The Chain

For other uses, see The Chain (disambiguation).

"The Chain"
Song by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Rumours
Released4 February 1977
Recorded1976
GenreRock
Length4:28
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Audio sample

"The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album Rumours.[1][2][3] It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood).

"The Chain" was created from combinations of several previously rejected materials, including solo work by Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie. The song was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut.[4]

Following the critical and commercial success of Rumours, "The Chain" has become a staple of the band's live shows, typically the opening song. It was featured as the opening track on The Dance, a 1997 live concert CD/DVD release, as well as several of the band's greatest hits compilations. The song has attained particular fame in the United Kingdom, where the instrumental section has been used as the theme tune for the BBC and Channel 4's television coverage of Formula One.[5][6]

  1. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  2. ^ "100 Greatest Albums Of All Time - No.2 - Rumours". The Sound. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  3. ^ "How Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' Became One of the Best Albums Ever". Observer. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  4. ^ Carroll, Cath (2004). Never Break the Chain: Fleetwood Mac and the Making of Rumours. Vinyl Frontier. pp. 134–136. ISBN 1556525451.
  5. ^ "BBC Formula One coverage to bring back Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'". The Daily Telegraph. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  6. ^ Klein, Jamie (12 February 2016). "Channel 4 to keep 'The Chain' as F1 theme song". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 12 February 2016.