Landslide (Fleetwood Mac Song)

"Landslide" is a song written by Stevie Nicks and performed by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song was first featured on the band's self-titled album ''Fleetwood Mac'' (1975). The original recording also appears on the compilation albums ''25 Years – The Chain'' (1992) and ''The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac'' (2002), while a live version was released as a single 23 years after the live reunion album '' The Dance'' (1997). "Landslide" reached 51 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Landslide" was certified Gold in October 2009 for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States. According to Nielsen Soundscan, "Landslide" sold 2,093,186 copies in the United States as of 2017.

In 2021, the song was listed at No. 163 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".

History

Nicks has said that she wrote the song while contemplating either going back to school or continuing on professionally with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Their album ''Buckingham Nicks'' had been dropped by Polydor Records before they could release a follow up. Nicks wrote the song while visiting Aspen, Colorado, sitting in someone's living room "looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us ... at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways".See ''Crystal Visions... The Very Best of Stevie Nicks'' (insert) (2007)

The song is one of Fleetwood Mac's most frequently performed during tours. Nicks has sung it on every Fleetwood Mac tour since joining the band, with the exception of the '' Shake the Cage'' tour, as well as on all of her own solo tours from 2005 onwards. A live performance of "Landslide" recorded on 27 June 1980, at the London Wembley Arena during the ''Tusk'' Tour was included on ''Live''. Other live recordings of "Landslide" also appear on '' The Dance'' (1997), '' Live in Boston'' (2004), ''Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks'' (2007) (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), ''The Soundstage Sessions'' (2009), ''Soundstage'', and the '' Live in Chicago'' DVD.

Personnel

* Stevie Nicks – vocals
* Lindsey Buckingham – guitars

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

The Smashing Pumpkins

Alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins recorded an acoustic arrangement of the song that was featured as the B-side to their 1994 single "Disarm" and later on their B-side collection ''Pisces Iscariot''.

The group's arrangement went on to be one of the rock band's most-beloved tracks and even had the approval of Nicks herself. As she told fans during a 1998 online chat with SonicNet, "There's nothing more pleasing to a songwriter than omeone elsedoing one of their songs. Landslide'also led me to being friends with Billy Corgan and the possibility that we'll work together," she said of the Smashing Pumpkins frontman. "Over this song, there's been this incredible connection ... he reached out ... I believe that my poetry is really meant for everyone, no matter what age."

The new version was a hit, making it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States that year and No. 30 on the US Airplay charts. The song was also featured on the US version of their greatest hits album ''Rotten Apples''. It was later used in the TV show ''Alias'' on season 1 in the episode ''Page 47''.

Charts

Dixie Chicks

The American country music group Dixie Chicks released a cover of "Landslide" on 26 August 2002 as the second single from their 2002 album, ''Home''. Lead singer Natalie Maines said she was attracted to the song because she was then the same age that Nicks was when she first performed it. The Chicks performed the song with Nicks at '' VH1 Divas Las Vegas'' in 2002. The music video for the song was directed by Jim Gable and edited by Scott C. Wilson.

The Chicks version, featuring The Chicks' two- and three-part harmonies, reached the top 10 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. On the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart, it is the band's only number-one single. After Maines publicly criticised President George W. Bush and the imminent Allied invasion of Iraq, triggering a backlash, it fell to number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in one week and left the chart a week later.

Outside the United States, "Landslide" reached number two in Canada and became The Chicks' only top-10 hit in Australia, where it reached number six. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

Charts

Certifications

Release history

''Glee'' version

The cast of Fox Broadcasting Company's musical television program, ''Glee'', performed the song in Season 2, Episode 15, "Sexy". Gwyneth Paltrow, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris are featured on vocals for this version. Stevie Nicks attended the filming of the song and stated that it was a "beautiful mix" of the original and the Chicks version.

Other cover versions

* Antony Hegarty recorded the song for the tribute album '' Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac''.
* Harry Styles performed this song with Nicks during his show at the Troubadour in May 2017.
* The Japanese House recorded a cover of this song for Spotify Singles, released 26 July 2017.
*Parodied by Lucy Lawless (in character as Stevie Nicks) in 17 October 1998, episode of ''Saturday Night Live''.
* On 12 March 2019, Australian pop singer Conrad Sewell recorded a cover of the song for Australian bank Westpac, in a campaign designed to target families dealing with separation and the resulting financial consequences. ''Branding in Asia'' described the rendition as "powerful", while ''The Music Network''s Jake Challenor praised Sewell's performance as "soulful and emotionally charged".
* Gus Dapperton released a cover in 2022 to mark his signing to Warner Brothers Records.
* Brittany Snow (as "Bobby-Lynne") and Scott Mescudi (as "Jackson") performed a cover in the Ti West period slasher film ''X'' (2022), which is set in the 1970s in the year 1979, four years after the original song had been released.
* Stacey Kent released a cover version on her 2007 album Breakfast On The Morning Tram

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