Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt and Mick Fleetwood took the stage at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Feb. 5) to pay tribute to the late Christine McVie, best known as one of the singers and songwriters for Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Fleetwood Mac. The trio played the McVie-led “Songbird,” the understated piano ballad and love song found on their classic Rumors album.
Crow and Raitt took the first lead vocals on the striking performance, trading off verses and harmonizing on the chorus. Crow also played piano for the ballad, and Fleetwood backed them with gentle and lovely background percussion, closing the song on his own before taking off his hat to give it up to the two legendary vocalists.
The trio’s “Songbird” was one of three performances included during the In Memoriam section at this year’s Grammys. Kacey Musgraves also paid tribute to country icon Loretta Lynn with a rendition of “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and Quavo saluted his late fellow Migo Takeoff with his own recently released tribute “Without You,” also mixed with some of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s famous ballad “See You Again.”
Though never released as a single, “Songbird” is still one of McVie’s best-known compositions for its inclusion on Rumors, one of the best-selling and most-accomplished albums in rock history. The LP won album of the year at the 1978 Grammys and topped the Billboard 200 albums chart for 31 non-consecutive weeks from 1977-78, and recently celebrated its anniversary, turning 46 this Saturday (Feb. 4).
