Landslide (Fleetwood Mac song)

For the song by AC/DC, see Flick of the Switch.

"Landslide"
Song

"Landslide" is a song written by Stevie Nicks and performed by British-American music group Fleetwood Mac. It was first featured on the band's 1975 eponymous album Fleetwood Mac. Along with "Rhiannon", it would be Nicks's first original contribution to the band upon joining. A live version was released as a single 23 years later from the live reunion album The Dance. This version reached #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Landslide" was certified Gold in October 2009 for sales of over 500,000 copies in the U.S.

Song creation

Nicks has said that she wrote this song while she was contemplating going back to school or continuing on professionally with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Buckingham Nicks had been dropped by Polydor Records and she and Buckingham were not getting along. She wrote the song while visiting Aspen, Colorado, sitting in someone's living room "looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us ... at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways."

Stevie Nicks version

There are currently 7 different versions commercially available featuring Nicks on vocals:

• Fleetwood Mac (1975). The original recording also appears on the compilation albums 25 Years – The Chain (1992) and The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (2002).
• Live (1980). Recorded live in London, June 27, 1980, at the Wembley Arena during the Tusk Tour.
• The Dance (1997). Live track released as a maxi-single, which also included 3 remixes of the original 1975 recording.
• VH1 Divas Las Vegas (2002). Performed live with the Dixie Chicks.
• Live in Boston (2004)
• Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (2007). Performed live with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
• The Soundstage Sessions (2009). Performed live in Chicago for the PBS program Soundstage. An alternate performance from this event is included on her Live in Chicago DVD.

The song is one of Fleetwood Mac's most frequently performed songs on tour. Nicks has performed it on every Fleetwood Mac tour since joining the band, with the exception of the Shake the Cage tour, as well as all of her own solo tours from 2005 onwards. Nicks also regularly performs it along with "Stand Back" during television guest appearances.

Personnel

• Stevie Nicks – vocals
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar
• Christine McVie – keyboards — on live performances between 1975–1982
• Waddy Wachtel – guitar — on Nicks's solo tours and appearances

Cover versions

The Smashing Pumpkins

Alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured as the B-side to their 1994 single "Disarm" and later on their B-side collection Pisces Iscariot. The cover went on to be one of the rock band's most-beloved tracks and even had the approval of Nicks herself. As she told fans during a 1998 online chat with SonicNet, "There's nothing more pleasing to a songwriter than [someone else] doing one of their songs. ['Landslide'] also led me to being friends with Billy [Corgan] and the possibility that we'll work together," she said of the Smashing Pumpkins frontman. "Over this song, there's been this incredible connection ... he reached out ... I believe that my poetry is really meant for everyone, no matter what age." The cover was a hit, making it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. that year and number 30 on the U.S. Airplay charts. The song was also featured on the U.S. version of their greatest hits album Rotten Apples.

Charts (The Smashing Pumpkins)

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	47
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	3

Dixie Chicks

"Landslide"
Song

The country group Dixie Chicks then covered "Landslide" on their 2002 album Home. This rendition, featuring the group's trademark two- and three-part harmonies reached the Top 10 of both the pop (number 7) and country charts (number 2) as well as several other charts. It became the Dixie Chicks' only number 1 single (to date) on the adult contemporary chart. Lead singer Natalie Maines said she was attracted, in part, to the song because she was then the same age that Nicks was when she initially performed it.

Charts (Dixie Chicks)

"Landslide" debuted at #32 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of September 7, 2002.

Chart (2002–03)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	6
Canadian Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	55
US Billboard Hot 100	7
US Pop Airplay (Billboard)	13
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)	2
US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)	2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)	Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)	48

Stacey Kent

Jazz vocalist Stacey Kent made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured on her 2007 album Breakfast on the Morning Tram.

Glee version

Fox Broadcasting Company's Glee cover involving Gwyneth Paltrow, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris launched in Season 2, Episode 15, "Sexy". Rivera's character Santana Lopez chose this song to express her true feelings for Morris' Brittany Pierce. Stevie Nicks attended the filming of the song and stated that it was a "beautiful mix" of the original and Dixie Chicks version. She stated she was overall very pleased with the performance and that she was honored to be part of the show.

Other covers

• Antony Hegarty covered the song for the covers album A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac
• Bush (The Sea of Memories, 2011). It is a bonus track on the deluxe edition of the album.
• The Backbeats (The Sing-Off, 2010)
• John Frusciante (The Viper Room, 1997)
• Sin Fang ("Landslide"/"The Only Living Boy in New York", 2010)
• Tori Amos
• Gavin Rossdale
• Miley Cyrus covered this song on her Gypsy Heart Tour.
• Paramore covered part of this song during their performance at the Fueled by Ramen 15th anniversary show.
• Jimmy Wong covered this song on his YouTube channel.
• Boyce Avenue covered this song on their YouTube channel.
• Venice (Spin Art, 1999 and 2 Meter Sessies, 2000)
• Slim Thug covered this song on his upcoming 2013 album.
• The Smashing Pumpkins acoustic cover of the song that was featured as the B-side to their 1994 single "Disarm" and later on their B-side collection Pisces Iscariot

In televised singing competitions

• Kate Cook (Australian Idol, 2009, Top 10)
• The Backbeats (The Sing-Off, 2010)
• Lacey Brown (American Idol, 2010, Top 24)
• Javier Colon sang this song with Stevie Nicks on the Season 1 Final Results show of The Voice
• Lakoda Rayne (The X Factor, 2011, Top 12)
• Colton Dixon (American Idol, 2012, Top 9)
• Karise Eden (The Voice Australia, 2012)
• Dani Shay (The Glee Project, 2012)
• Suzanna Choffel ( The Voice (U.S. season 3), 2012)
• Jennel Garcia and Tara Simon (The X Factor, Season 2)

Appearances in other media

• The original 1975 song appeared in 2011 as a downloadable track for the music video game Rock Band 3.
• The original 1975 song is used at the end of the South Park episodes "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers".
• Appears on a mixtape in the novel "The Perks of Being a Wallflower".
• The original 1975 song is played at the end of the Cold Case episode "Fireflies" and The Smashing Pumpkins cover is played at the end of the episode "Detention".
• The live version from The Dance is featured in the 1998 movie Jack Frost, though it did not appear on the soundtrack CD. It also appeared in the 2004 movie Jersey Girl directed by Kevin Smith.
• Mentioned by John Cusack's character in High Fidelity.
• Performed by Mark Duplass' character in an episode of The Mindy Project.
• The original 1975 song appears in a TV commercial for Budweiser that debuted during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013.