To complete the song, Buckingham recycled the intro from an earlier song from a duet with Nicks, "Lola (My Love)", originally released on their self-titled 1973 album. Other elements were worked in from an early project of Christine's called "Keep Me There", which removed the blues-style motif, but retained the chord progression. Stevie Nicks had written the lyrics separately and thought they would be a good match she and Christine McVie did some reworking to create the first section of the tune. Īccording to interviews on the writing of Rumours, the final section of "The Chain"-beginning with a bass progression-was created by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. The song has attained particular fame in the United Kingdom, where the instrumental section has been used as the theme tune for the BBC and Channel 4's television coverage of Formula One. It was featured as the opening track on The Dance, a 1997 live concert CD/DVD release, as well as several of the band's greatest hits compilations. įollowing the critical and commercial success of Rumours, "The Chain" has become a staple of the band's live shows, typically the opening song. The song was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. "The Chain" was created from combinations of several previously rejected materials, including solo work by Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie. It is the only song from the album with writing credits from all five members ( Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood). " The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album Rumours.