The real-life inspiration for ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’ and Fleetwood Mac
After a slightly overdue binge-watching of “Daisy Jones & The Six,” I had to explore further the commotion around why this 70s staged story is inspired by the beloved band Fleetwood Mac.
Originally a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid and retold in an Amazon Prime adaptation, “Daisy Jones & The Six” tells the story of how a group of young artists come together looking to make it big in the growing genre of 1970s classic folk rock. It's a story of love, heartbreak and the typical trio of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Viewers witness not only the beautiful original soundtrack of the fictional band's music but also the romance progression between lead characters Billy Dunne, played by Sam Claflin, and Daisy Jones, played by Riley Keough. With the emotional rollercoaster these characters go through and the real-life rumors of a Fleetwood Mac-inspired story, the question arises: is “Daisy Jones & The Six” a fictional telling of Fleetwood Mac?
After the lead singer of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, watched the series, she made an Instagram post that left fans wanting to know more.
“It brought back memories that made me feel like a ghost watching my own story,” Nicks said.
What gave Nicks this “ghost-like” feeling is portrayed in the series in more ways than one. In an interview with Taylor Jenkins Reid, she admits that the romance between Stevie Nicks and fellow bandmate Lindsey Buckingham inspired her novel.
Unlike “Daisy Jones & The Six,” Nicks and Buckingham initially met as college bandmates, then formed a duo of their own and then finally formed the infamous Fleetwood Mac in 1974. The band members, Nicks, Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie, are inspired by The Six through their relationships with fellow bandmates. Along with Nicks and Buckingham being reminiscent of Dunne and Jones, original bassist John McVie and keyboardist Christine McVie are similar to that of The Six’s keyboardist Karen Sirko (Suki Waterhouse) and guitarist Graham Dunne (Will Harrison).
What makes “Daisy Jones & The Six” and Fleetwood Mac intertwined is not only the romantic relationships between band members but the meaning behind the music itself.
When Daisy Jones is first asked to help The Six with Billy Dunne's original song “Honeycomb,” a song about his marriage struggles, Jones changes the lyrics. Instead of its original meaning of repairing the past, she highlights the reality of how good things can turn bad. Nicks had a similar experience with “Landslide” in Fleetwood Mac’s 1974 album.
Nick's lyrics, “If you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills/ well, the landslide will bring it down,” highlight the feeling of being too hopeful in difficult situations and the feeling of simply not being enough.
Additionally, just as “Regret Me” and “More Fun to Miss” were songs written in the romantic tension of Jones and Dunne, the classic songs of “Go Your Own Way” and “Dreams” were written to each other by Buckingham and Nicks in the aftermath of their breakup.
What makes this unique is that these are infamous lyrics we sing along to, yet knowing their context has such a deeper meaning. For example, the next time you hear “Dreams,” “But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness/ Like a heartbeat drives you mad/ In the stillness of remembering what you had,” you can’t help but think about how these lyrics were the feelings of Nicks and Buckingham after their breakup, channeling their emotions into song.
These are just some overlapping ways in which “Daisy Jones & The Six” relate to the iconic 70s rock band Fleetwood Mac. With the romantic relationships formed, inspirational music as a result and coming to fame, Reid's story captures the essence of the band we all know and love, Fleetwood Mac — with Stevie Nicks herself confirming it!
To close, it's important to honor the present-day artists that wrote the Fleetwood Mac-inspired soundtrack for “Daisy Jones & The Six,” including Phoebe Bridgers, Marcus Mumford, Blake Mills, Chris Weisman, and fellow 70s icon himself, Jackson Browne. This series would not have been possible without their extraordinary songwriting abilities, transforming Reids' story into a symphony of folk rock.
