Peter Green in 2004; Jo Hale/Getty ImagesTributes are pouring in from around the music world saluting founding Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist Peter Green, who, according to his family, died “peacefully in his sleep” Saturday at age 73.
Leading the homages is one from drummer Mick Fleetwood, who helped form the band with Green in 1967.
“For me, and every past and present member of Fleetwood Mac, losing Peter Green is monumental!” Mick writes in a message posted on his official Facebook page. “Peter was the man who started the band Fleetwood Mac along with myself, John McVie, and Jeremy Spencer. No one has ever stepped into the ranks of Fleetwood Mac without a reverence for Peter Green and his talent, and to the fact that music should shine bright and always be delivered with uncompromising passion!!!”
Fleetwood adds, “Peter, I will miss you, but rest easy your music lives on. I thank you for asking me to be your drummer all those years ago. We did good, and trail blazed one hell of a musical road for so many to enjoy.”
Stevie Nicks, who joined Fleetwood Mac five years after Green exited the band, posted a tribute on her own Facebook page that reads, in part, “My biggest regret is that I never got to share the stage with him. I always hoped in my heart of hearts that that would happen. When I first listened to all the Fleetwood Mac records, I was very taken with his guitar playing. It was one of the reasons I was excited to join the band. His legacy will live on forever in the history books of Rock n Roll.”
Here are some of the many other tributes Green that have been posted by various well-known and repsected music artists:
Yusuf/Cat Stevens: “God bless the ineffable Peter Green, one of the unsung heroes of musical integrity, innovation and spirit. When I heard he left Fleetwood Mac in 1970 to get a real life and donate his wealth to charity, he became something of a model for me.”
Whitesnake singer David Coverdale: “An Artist I Truly Loved & Admired…From The First Time I Heard Him…I Supported The Original Fleetwood Mac At Redcar Jazz Club When I Was In A Local Band…He Was A Breathtaking Singer, Guitarist & Composer.”
Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler: “Sad to hear of Peter Green passing- one of the greats. RIP.”
Warren Haynes: “Peter’s life was a sad and storied one for sure but he remains one of the greatest to ever unleash the power of music onto this world. What he created and contributed will continue to influence the best musical artists and arouse the most curious listeners for generations to come.”
Ex-Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden: “As a musician I can only be one of the millions he touched, his talent for guitar playing, vocals and harmonica would have been more than most people could have possibly wished for, and then you add those wonderful songs, original, vibrant, atmospheric, outright psychedelic and so much fun, to listen to and witness. Those early days of Fleetwood Mac will stay in my mind forever.”
Annie Lennox: “Peter Green, composer of the most incredibly beautiful haunting songs has passed on from this world. He couldn’t handle the intensity of the music industry & left the band before they rocketed to global super stardom. What a beautiful legacy of songs he’s left behind.. RIP sir.”
Billy Idol: “RIP #PeterGreen amazing ’60’s guitarist B B King said out of all the British blues guitar players of the 60s and early 70s he was the only one who gave him chills! Praise indeed…”
Midge Ure: “One of the great ones gone. You taught me well…Supernatural…Man of the World…Albatross…Oh Well.”
Metallica‘s Kirk Hammett: “This pic [a photo of Hammett holding Green’s 1959 Les Paul guitar that Kirk bought a few years ago] speaks volumes, literally…!…RIP Peter Green.”
By Matt Friedlander
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