Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood, born in Redruth, Cornwall, England, on June 24, 1942, is a musician best-known for his role as the drummer with the Rock and Roll band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood drums in a sparse, solid style that has changed little since his earliest recordings in 1967 with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. The snakey, sensuous rhythms he forged with Mac bassist John McVie have provided the common stylistic thread throughout the band's many line up changes and stylistic nuances. More than fifty albums have been released under the name Fleetwood Mac - by far the most popular being the two mega-platinum sets the group put out in the late seventies, Fleetwood Mac and Rumours. Apart from his work with Fleetwood Mac, Mick has led a number of modestly successful side projects. 1981's The Visitor featured heavy African stylistics,and and in 1983 he formed his own side band, Mick Fleetwood's Zoo. The Zoo recorded at least one quite catchy set, I'm Not Me, which had a minor hit with the Mac-ish "I Want You Back" and featured a lovely version of the Beach Boys' "Angel Come Home". A later version of the group recorded 1995's Shaking the Cage. 2004 found the sixty-plus Fleetwood pounding the skins with greater vigor than ever on The Mick Fleetwood Band's Something Big. After a forty year career, Fleetwood could be considered the most consistent drummer in rock history.
The slender, nearly seven foot Fleetwood has a striking, Rasputin-like appearance which has led to a secondary career as a TV and film actor, usually in minor parts, and perhaps most memorably in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as a resistance leader in The Running Man. Fleetwood also had the misfortune to act as co-host of the 1989 "Brit Awards", often cited as one of the worst programmes in the history of British Television.
He is the author of Fleetwood, his memoirs of his life, especially with Fleetwood Mac, published in 1990. Included in the book are his experiences with other musicians, including Eric Clapton, members of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and a romance with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood also discusses his addiction to powdered cocaine, and his personal bankruptcy after earning millions of dollars or pounds from his drumming career. He stated that his now-deceased father implied that Mick had taken his millions and sniffed them all up his nose. Actually, Mick's problems were exasperated by foolish real-estate purchases in the United Kingdom, in the United States, and in Australia, on which he lost a lot of money.
These by no means unique personal failings notwithstanding, Fleetwood remains one of the most flamboyant and beloved secondary figures in the world of blues-rock.
His sister was the late actress Susan Fleetwood.
