Flicking through record albums in a store, Sheena Beckett came across a Fleetwood Mac greatest hits album and thought it would be the perfect birthday gift for her mum.
It was the late ‘80s. The pre-teen Beckett didn’t know Fleetwood Mac but knew that her mum, a professional singer on the road, was a fan of the rock band that for 20 years had produced hits like Dreams, The Chain, Don’t Stop, Everywhere, Rhiannon and Songbird – today’s timeless staples of radio, film and streaming playlists worldwide.
“She started playing the album,” recalls Beckett, “and I was genuinely captivated by Stevie Nicks’ voice. I’d never heard anybody sing like that. I honestly thought, what’s this magical sound. I really, really fell in love with her and, from there, I discovered Fleetwood Mac.”
Beckett’s mum told her stories from her youth, listening to Peter Green’s original Fleetwood Mac, the band’s name splicing together the surname of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie.
“From that point, I fell in love with all of it,” says British-born Beckett, who followed her family into entertainment and has been a singer, dancer and actress in theatre and television since she was seven.
Fast-forward to the early days of COVID by which time Beckett, who’d been touring in ABBA shows for years, had become a diehard Fleetwood Mac fan.
COVID’s downtime suddenly became the perfect time for Beckett and her musician husband Allan Beckett to do a passion project by writing tribute show Go Your Own Way, which itself has become a hit show globally, masterfully bringing Fleetwood Mac to life on stage – and it’s coming to QPAC’s Concert Hall for two shows on June 11.
Fleetwood Mac’s legacy in music spans more than five decades, influencing generations of artists across rock, pop, folk and contemporary music. With their trademark blend of soaring harmonies, poetic…