How a Fleetwood Mac Star’s Wife Inspired the Donovan Song ‘Jennifer Juniper’
Jenny Boyd, who was twice married to Fleetwood Mac founding member and drummer Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the Donovan song “Jennifer Juniper.” Here’s what the former model said about the track and her relationship with Donovan.
Mick Fleetwood’s ex-wife, Jenny Boyd, was the inspiration for the Donovan song ‘Jennifer Juniper’
Jenny Boyd inspired the Donovan song “Jennifer Juniper” years before she married Mick Fleetwood for the first time. The model was married to the Fleetwood Mac star from 1970 to 1976, and they were remarried briefly between 1977 and 1978.
Boyd is the sister of model Pattie Boyd, who was married to Eric Clapton and George Harrison. “Jennifer Juniper” was written in 1968, before Jenny married Fleetwood and Pattie married Clapton. But Pattie was married to Harrison at the time of its recording. Jenny, whose real name is Helen Mary Boyd, was nicknamed after her sister Pattie’s favorite doll.
Although Jenny was not yet married to Fleetwood, she had already met him. The former couple first encountered each other when Jenny was just 15 years old.
The drummer recounted their first meeting in his book, My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac. “I met Jenny when I was still in the Cheynes,” he wrote (via Song Facts). “I’d see Jenny coming home from school, a stunning 15-year-old in white stockings. I lost my heart to her immediately. I had a massive crush on her, but was so shy I couldn’t say anything to her. I knew then, at age 16, that this was the girl I was destined to marry.”
Jenny Boyd explained how she inspired the song ‘Jennifer Juniper’
Mick Fleetwood’s ex-wife opened up about how she inspired the Donovan song “Jennifer Juniper.”
“I was working at this boutique and Donovan walked in – I had met him before,” Jenny Boyd told Fox News in 2020. “We just started talking and we ended up seeing each other a couple of times. I remember the second time we went out, he told me, ‘I wrote a song for you.’ We sat down, he took out his guitar and then he started singing ‘Jennifer Juniper.’”
Jenny said she always thinks about the special moment whenever she hears the hit song. “It was the most extraordinary thing because I was really shy in those days,” she explained. “I didn’t even know where to look. But it was absolutely wonderful. It’s been one of those things that have stayed with me these 50 or so years. Every time I hear it, it takes me straight back to that moment.”
Jenny added, “It was the 60s. We were so innocent and there was this idealism that we could change the world. It’s a very precious song to me.”
Mick Fleetwood’s ex-wife said she and Donovan never had a romantic relationship
Jenny Boyd said her relationship with Donovan was never serious, despite him writing “Jennifer Juniper” for her.
In her interview with Fox News, the former model was asked about their brief romance. Although Jenny admitted to Donovan’s crush on her, she said the musician was never her boyfriend.
“We kissed, but it didn’t go any further than that,” Mick Fleetwood’s ex-wife said. “He really liked me and I really liked him. But we became really lovely friends. He wasn’t a proper boyfriend.”
