Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie has died

The singer-songwriter of British rock band Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie, who had also found success with a solo career, died Wednesday at the age of 79 following a short illness, her family announced.

She had written several famous band songs, including Little Lies, Everywhere et Songbird. She had joined the formation a few years following its creation in 1967. The group, which has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, is considered one of the most popular formations that have ever existed.

In a statement posted on the singer’s Facebook page, the family said Christine McVie died “peacefully” in a hospital on Wednesday morning following “a short illness”. “She was accompanied by her family,” the statement said.

An album sold 40 million copies

Fleetwood Mac, composed in particular of Mick Fleetwood, Christine and her former husband John McVie, but also Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, was one of the most famous groups of the 70s and 80s. Rumoursreleased in 1977, is considered one of the biggest sellers in musical history with more than 40 million copies sold worldwide.

The singer had left the group in 1998 before joining it 16 years later for an ephemeral formation. In 2017, she told the BBC that she withdrew from the world and developed agoraphobia following leaving the group. She had left California to settle in Kent, in the south-east of England.

“There are no words to describe our sadness,” the group reacted on Twitter. “She was truly unique, special and exceptionally talented.”