Is Daisy Jones & the Six Based on a True Story?

Picture Supply: Amazon Studios

The Amazon Prime Video adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel “Daisy Jones and the Six” is certainly one of many hottest new TV exhibits of the yr. Tracing the story of a smash-hit rock band within the Seventies, it blends a fictional plot with particulars meant to evoke the true music scene of the period. Simply how a lot is the story impressed by actual music historical past? Loads, because it seems!

What Is “Daisy Jones and the Six” Primarily based On?

Technically, the novel (and the TV present) is an authentic story. It would not use actual names or real-life occasions, however as a substitute presents a “documentary” narrative concerning the fictional band of the title, their relationships, and the making of their most well-known album. Nevertheless, music followers will certainly acknowledge some acquainted beats within the story of a Seventies rock band pulled aside by interpersonal drama and musical conflicts.

In a 2019 visitor article for Reese Witherspoon’s “Hiya Sunshine,” Reid defined how she turned her youthful fascination with the real-life band Fleetwood Mac into materials for her novel. She remembers seeing a sophisticated and tender second between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham throughout a efficiency, then studying concerning the messy romantic previous between them and coming again to that second over time.

“Two years in the past, after I determined I wished to put in writing a ebook about rock ‘n’ roll, I saved coming again to that second when Lindsey watched Stevie sing ‘Landslide.’ The way it regarded a lot like two folks in love,” she defined. “And but, we’ll by no means really know what lived between them. I wished to put in writing a narrative about that, about how the traces between actual life and efficiency can get blurred, about how singing about outdated wounds may preserve them recent. Even after copious quantities of analysis about Fleetwood Mac and a number of different duos and bands, I am nonetheless taken with that second between them. I can not assist however marvel at the concept that, regardless of every little thing they’d been by way of, Stevie and Lindsey nonetheless liked one another then. Or how, regardless of what it regarded wish to us all, they now not did.”

“Daisy Jones and the Six” tells an analogous story, though the characters and their backstories are virtually mixed-and-matched, so there’s not essentially a one-to-one correspondence between the fictional characters and members of the true Fleetwood Mac.

What Actually Occurred With Fleetwood Mac?

Picture Supply: Getty / Stephen Lovekin

The drama of Fleetwood Mac might be some of the well-known and tangled-up tales in fashionable music historical past. The band famously had one thing of a revolving door of members, however its best-known lineup featured Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks. Buckingham and Nicks have been the final two to hitch the group; reportedly, Buckingham was the one initially requested to hitch the band, however he insisted that Nicks, his girlfriend on the time, even be included.

This explicit iteration of the band was wildly profitable, however their relationships took a significant hit as they labored on their iconic album “Rumours.” Buckingham and Nicks broke up, as did the McVies, and Fleetwood and his spouse. Later, Fleetwood and Nicks additionally had a short-lived relationship. A lot of their relationship drama was highlighted of their famed “Rolling Stone” interview in 1977, the place in addition they acknowledged that their music was largely based mostly on their actual lives.

“On this album, all of the songs that I wrote besides perhaps ‘Gold Mud Girl’ — and even that comes into it — are undoubtedly concerning the folks within the band . . . . Chris’ relationships, John’s relationship, Mick’s relationship, Lindsey’s and mine. They’re all there and so they’re very trustworthy and folks will know precisely what I am speaking about . . . folks will actually take pleasure in listening to what occurred because the final album,” Nicks mentioned within the “Rolling Stone” characteristic.

In the end, the band went on hiatus and ultimately misplaced a number of members, together with Buckingham and Nicks. Over time, they’ve reunited for sure initiatives and performances, although not with out extra drama. In 2018, Buckingham departed the group underneath contentious circumstances; he was reportedly fired over a disagreement concerning the upcoming tour, whereas he claimed it was the results of a battle with Nicks. Buckingham introduced a lawsuit, and the events reached a settlement in late 2018.