At the 65th Grammy Awards, Mick Fleetwood, Bonnie Raitt, and Sheryl Crow paid tribute to Fleetwood Mac’s late member Christine McVie.
On Sunday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Fleetwood, 75, Crow, 60, and Raitt, 73, performed in memory of McVie, who passed away in November at the age of 79.
McVie was an integral part of the group, often providing the group with a combination of smooth, jazzy melodies and heartfelt lyrics. Her songwriting, in particular, was highly influential, providing a unique combination of soul and blues. McVie was also an incredibly versatile vocalist, able to deliver the emotion of the lyrics without sacrificing the technical precision of the music.
Her death in 2022 was a huge shock to the music world and she will always be missed. The Grammys is a big event and it was the perfect place to pay her tribute. Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, and Mick Fleetwood sang “Songbird” as a tribute to her during the In Memoriam portion. Mick Fleetwood was her longtime bandmate in Fleetwood Mac.
Sheryl Crow said, “For me to get to tribute Christine because they’ve been—the band and Christine—so influential on me, but also to get to do it with Mick, it’s so deep and meaningful to me, I feel like I’m getting the honor of getting to honor.”
Mick also said, “Having Sheryl and Bonnie singing this beautiful song, I think all of us collectively are here representing Christine What she meant as a person in Fleetwood Mac and of course personally to me and the band members and a lot of other family members. Outside of that, I think it’s a moment to accolade the wonder of a hugely talented, lovely unsuspecting lady known as Christine McVie. He added,
“There is a lot of fuss, but we are really happy to be making a fuss of her, It’s double-edged it comes with a celebration and a quiet prayer that contains some sadness of loss. But having it be able to come to life with this lovely lady [Sheryl], and Bonnie, is a beautiful thing for me to see happen.”
The song “Songbird” lyrics expresses the narrator’s yearning for the lover’s presence in a lovely, distant location. A “silver moonlight”-filled night sky and a desire for a lover to join them are both vividly depicted in the song. However, because they are far away and unable to contact them, the narrator’s love is not returned.
Listen to the performance down below.
