Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green has died aged 73
25 July 2020, 16:58
Fleetwood Mac co-founder Peter Green has died aged 73, a statement from solicitors acting on behalf of his family said.
The statement from Swan Turton solicitors said: "It is with great sadness that the family of Peter Green announce his death this weekend, peacefully in his sleep.
"A further statement will be provided in the coming days".
The influential blues rock guitarist, from Bethnal Green in London, formed Fleetwood Mac with drummer Mick Fleetwood in London in 1967.
Green left Fleetwood Mac after a final performance in 1970 as he struggled with mental health difficulties and spiralling drug use, later sleeping rough.
He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in hospitals undergoing electro-convulsive therapy during the mid-70s.
The band continued with a transformed line-up featuring a core group of Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie and Christine McVie.
This phase gave rise to their huge albums Fleetwood Mac and Rumours.
Green remerged from obscurity on a number of occasions, forming the Peter Green Splinter Group in the late 1990s with Nigel Watson and Cozy Powell.
They released nine albums between 1997 and 2004.
In 1992, Fleetwood described Green as "a major talent that to this day holds out".
He added: "I consider myself very lucky to have even played with him.
"Of course it upsets me but there's nothing I can do about it. It's his life. I haven't seen him for years."
Green was among the eight members of the band - along with Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John McVie, Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer - who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
Earlier this year, artists including Fleetwood, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and guitarists Jonny Lang and Andy Fairweather Low performed at the London Palladium during a gig celebrating the early years of Fleetwood Mac and its founder Peter Green.
Novelist Linda Grant paid tribute to the Fleetwood Mac founder on Twitter writing: "I'm so sorry to learn of the death of Peter Green aged only 73. He had so much soul. I loved him".
Film director Edgar Wright tweeted: "RIP Fleetwood Mac co founder and original lead singer Peter Green. What a belter this is. 'Oh Well' (Live 1969)".
Whitesnake's David Coverdale said Green was an artist he "truly loved and admired".
In a tweet, he wrote: "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... I know Who I Will Be Listening To Today...RIP".
