Skip to main content

Mick Fleetwood was one of the original members of Fleetwood Mac. He sat behind the kit as the band found massive fame in the 1970s, though he was a little lucky to make it that far as he survived a near-death experience thanks to the help of a mystical figure. It wasn’t the first time the drummer held onto this mortal coil. Fleetwood got nearly naked and trampled by a cow for a Fleetwood Mac album cover that wasn’t.

Mick Fleetwood, who was nearly naked and almost trampled to death for a Fleetwood Mac album cover photo, in 1968.
Mick Fleetwood in 1968 | Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours might be one of the most famous album covers of the 1970s. Heck, it might be an all-time great sleeve. It’s simple, elegant, and engaging.

The Mac’s namesake drummer and Stevie Nicks engage in a strange, ethereal dance involving a small stool, a crystal ball, and vaguely Victorian-era clothing. They’re pictured in black and white on a custard-colored background, but one can’t help but notice one item on Rumours’ cover. Or is it two? Fleetwood has a pair of wooden balls dangling between his legs.

Fleetwood stole the balls off a toilet in a pub in the 1960s, and they’ve been with him ever since. Considering the uber-successful Rumours achieved a rare feat upon its 1977 release, Fleetwood’s balls might be the most famous plumbing accessory ever. (They fetched $128,000 at a 2022 auction).

It wasn’t the first time the drummer appeared on an album cover. Fleetwood almost died during a Fleetwood Mac album cover shoot after stripping down to his underwear on a chilly morning, but it wasn’t the weather that nearly killed him.

A nearly-naked Fleetwood almost got trampled by a cow for a Fleetwood Mac album cover

Fleetwood Mac’s second album, Mr. Wonderful, was the first to feature Mick Fleetwood on the cover. The front of the sleeve shows a shirtless Fleetwood from mid-chest up. The album’s back cover shows a bit more of Fleetwood (plus a few pieces of well-placed foliage to keep the whole thing PG-13).

Having the drummer strip down apparently was part of the plan all along. A nearly-nude Fleetwood was nearly trampled by a cow during the cover shoot, as he once revealed to Sirius XM (via YouTube):

“I do have a memory or one [cover photo] that didn’t make it … of me trying to suck the udders of a cow. That was down at my godmother’s farm. It was going to be an album cover, which I think ended up being ‘Mr. Wonderful.’ I had to get underneath the cow, and it was a frosty morning — basically just with underpants on — and get between the legs of the cow to get the shot with the frame and the legs. And I am very lucky to be even here because it kept doing that [stomping its leg down]. We had to abandon that session, but there is one blurred picture … of an album cover that could have been the end of everything.”

Mick Fleetwood explains how he almost died for a Fleetwood Mac album cover

Fleetwood, born in June 1967, would have been 20 or 21 years old during the photo shoot for Mr. Wonderful, which the band released in August 1968.

The way the drummer tells it, he was underneath a cow while it stomped its hooves down. Fleetwood is right that the ill-fated cover shoot could have ended everything. One well-placed kick from an animal that likely weighed more than 1,000 pounds could have killed him.

The drummer appeared on two other Mac sleeves

Fleetwood almost died for one Fleetwood Mac album cover. He made a piece of toilet hardware famous with Rumours. The drummer made the cover of two other Mac albums.

Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac and helped the band achieve chart success like they hadn’t before. Still, the Mac’s first album with the pair — its 1975 self-titled record (the group’s second self-titled release) — featured Fleetwood (sans his wooded globes) and bassist John McVie on the cover.

Fleetwood Mac released The Dance, a planned live album, in 1997. The record relied heavily on Rumours’ track listing, and the band recreated the cover from the record-setting album 20 years later. Fleetwood strikes the same pose — left leg lifted, outstretched left hand holding a crystal ball in Nicks’ direction. The difference is the rest of the band joins them on the front of The Dance.

Mick Fleetwood was nearly naked and almost died for one Fleetwood Mac album cover. Presumably, he didn’t repeat that fiasco the other times he graced Mac album sleeves.

Best in Music