"Landslide" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written and performed by Stevie Nicks. The song was first featured on the band's self-titled album Fleetwood Mac (1975). The original recording also appears on the compilation albums 25 Years – The Chain (1992), The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (2002) and 50 Years – Don't Stop (2018), while a live version was released as a single 23 years later from the live reunion album The Dance (1997). "Landslide" reached No. 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Landslide" was certified gold in October 2009 for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States. According to Nielsen Soundscan, "Landslide" sold 2,093,186 copies in the United States as of 2017.[2]
Nicks has said that she wrote the song while contemplating either going back to school or continuing on professionally with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Nicks wrote "Landslide" while she was financially supporting both herself and Buckingham by taking up jobs as both a waitress and a cleaning lady.[5] Following the release of their debut album Buckingham Nicks, they had been dropped from their recording contract by Polydor Records before they could release a follow-up. Nicks 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."[6]
The song is one of Fleetwood Mac's most frequently performed during tours. Nicks has sung it on every Fleetwood Mac tour since joining the band, with the exception of the Shake the Cage tour, and has performed it on all of her own solo tours from 2005 onwards.[7] A live performance of "Landslide" recorded on 27 June 1980 at the London Wembley Arena was included on Live.[8]
In a contemporary review, Rolling Stone wrote that Nicks seemed "lost and out of place" on "Landslide" and that her voice sounded "callow and mannered".[9] Retrospective reviews have been more positive, with certain publications such as The Guardian and Paste ranking "Landslide" amongst the band's best work.[10][11]AllMusic described "Landslide" as a traditional song "built on a very simple (and very effective) country-folk-inspired chord progression".[12]
The group's arrangement 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 new version was a hit, making it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States that year and No. 30 on the US Airplay charts. The song was also featured on the US version of their greatest hits album Rotten Apples. It was later used in the TV show Alias on season 1 in the episode Page 47.
American country music group the Dixie Chicks released a cover of "Landslide" on 26 August 2002 as the second single from their 2002 album, Home. Lead singer Natalie Maines said she was attracted to the song because she was then the same age that Nicks was when she first performed it. The band performed the song with Nicks at VH1 Divas Las Vegas in 2002.[citation needed] The music video for the song was directed by Jim Gable and edited by Scott C. Wilson.[citation needed]
The cast of Fox Broadcasting Company's musical television program, Glee, performed the song in Season 2, Episode 15, "Sexy". Gwyneth Paltrow, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris are featured on vocals for this version. Stevie Nicks attended the filming of the song and stated that it was a "beautiful mix" of the original and the Chicks version.[58]
On 12 March 2019, Australian pop singer Conrad Sewell recorded a cover of the song for Australian bank Westpac, in a campaign designed to target families dealing with separation and the resulting financial consequences.[63][64]Branding in Asia described the rendition as "powerful",[65] while The Music Network's Jake Challenor praised Sewell's performance as "soulful and emotionally charged".[64]
^Landslide (Canadian CD single liner notes). Dixie Chicks. Open Wide Records, Monument Records, Columbia Records. 2003. 38K 3373.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Landslide (Australian CD single liner notes). Dixie Chicks. Open Wide Records, Monument Records, Columbia Records. 2003. 673292.2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Landslide (European maxi-CD single liner notes). Dixie Chicks. Open Wide Records, Monument Records, Columbia Records. 2003. COL 673292 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Landslide (UK CD single liner notes). Dixie Chicks. Columbia Records. 2003. 673739 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)