So Is ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’ Based on Fleetwood Mac or Were They a Real Band?

Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote Daisy Jones and the Six, and the comparisons began with a famous band—one that famously broke up and got back together all because of the personal relationship of two of its lead singers. I’m talking about Fleetwood Mac, obviously, and the drama surrounding the release of the album Rumours.

Now, with Daisy Jones and the Six coming out on Amazon Prime Video, the limited series adaptation has fans wondering whether or not the band is real, who they’re based on, and what this all means. The reality is that while the story has the vibe of Fleetwood Mac and the energy of what happened around Rumours, it is its own bit of fictional work.

Who is Daisy Jones and the Six based on?

For those new to the lore of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks famously dated Lindsey Buckingham (the lead guitarist and fellow lead singer of the band), and the two broke up. Nicks went on to be with their bandmate Mick Fleetwood, and the rift in the band caused them to split for a few years before touring again together. It also resulted in one of the greatest break-up albums of all time: Rumours.

Now, Daisy Jones and the Six is about Daisy Jones (Riley Keough), with her flowy tops and gruff yet beautiful voice à la Nicks, but the dynamics of the band are different, and the comparisons are pretty much just that there is a man and a woman as the lead singers of the band, a woman as their keyboardist, and they’re a band from the ’70s.

That being said, it’s easy to understand why fans want to know about the connection between Reid’s work and the band itself, so let’s talk about who Daisy Jones and the Six are and how they connect to the real life band Fleetwood Mac and our love for them.

Is Daisy Jones and the Six based on a true story?

You can’t really say that the band of Daisy Jones and the Six is based on Fleetwood Mac. You can say that there might have been some inspiration there, and Taylor Jenkins Reid has talked about how she wanted an excuse to just listen to the album Rumours on repeat, and this was that outlet.

Reid told The Guardian about the connection to Fleetwood Mac and how she wasn’t sure if any of the band actually knew about Daisy Jones and the Six. She also went on to talk about the connection to the band and how they’re brought up in conversation surrounding the book. “But here’s the thing: almost nothing in the book actually happened with Fleetwood Mac–it’s a Fleetwood Mac vibe but it’s not their story. I haven’t actually ripped off their lives,” Reid said. “I just wanted to spend more time listening to Rumours and needed a good reason to do it.”

So yes, obviously, there is inspiration there from what actually happened with Fleetwood Mac, but when you get into the finer details of it, they are very different stories. Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin) and Daisy Jones are both characters who know that they can’t and shouldn’t be together, when that’s not what happened with Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

(featured image: Amazon Prime Video)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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