Christine McVie talks Fleetwood Mac's 'unprecedented' return ahead of Madison Square Garden concerts

Fleetwood Mac didn't think they would ever be at full strength again.

In 1998, when singer-keyboardist Christine McVie retired from touring, that seemed to be the end of an era -- the finale for Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours"-era lineup of Christine McVie, drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks.

They had a legendary run, especially with "Rumours," which remains the ninth- biggest-selling album in history after 19 million copies were sold in the United States alone. But part of the Mac's legend was also its contentiousness. After all, it was built on two couples that had broken up.

When McVie left the band, not out of contentiousness, but because she didn't feel she could continue physically or mentally, the band accepted it.

"It was multiple reasons why I thought, 'I've had enough. I wanna go home and live in the country and get a Range Rover and get the dogs, the Wellie boots and the scarf and cook for the YMCA' or whatever," McVie recently told CBS News. "And I sort of had this misguided idea that that was the life that I wanted, you know? And to some degree, I enjoyed it for a few years."

Nicks saw that her friend was happy in her new life, but always held out hope she would change her mind. When McVie sold her pianos because she thought she wouldn't need them, Nicks secretly bought them and kept them in storage. Just in case.

Nicks says Fleetwood Mac has always been about doing the best set it possibly can, but without McVie, all the classics she sang on became off-the-table.

SEE PHOTOSStevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac

"We are totally willing to try anything, and that's what we do," Nicks says. "You can kind of feel what works and what doesn't work. The unfortunate thing is, we haven't fared well in doing Chris' songs. We don't sound like Chris. I don't sound good singing lead on her songs. Lindsey doesn't sound good singing lead on her songs."

While Fleetwood Mac was working on moving on without her, McVie was working on moving on herself. She went for therapy to deal with her phobia of flying and eventually worked through it. Her first flight was to visit Fleetwood at his home in Maui.

McVie surprisingly joined the band for its London show at The O2 arena last year. "It was so comfortable being back onstage with them, as if no time had passed, and then we all started talking, and it feels like the time is right," she says. "I'm really happy."

And there were no doubts from the rest of Fleetwood Mac. "As far as we're concerned, she's never really left," the band said in a joint statement. "We are overjoyed to have Christine back on stage with us."

SEE PHOTOSRock stars then and now

The band has already been in the studio this year, working on new music, though the fruits of their labor probably won't be heard until next year. However, the simple reunion of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers seems to be enough of an event for everyone. Their new tour, which stops at Madison Square Garden tomorrow and Tuesday, will mark only the second time all five members of the band have toured together in the past 30 years.

The last time came after the brokered peace following their decision to play at President Bill Clinton's inaugural gala in 1993, a collaboration that brought Buckingham back into the fold for what eventually would become "The Dance" album and tour.

It's no wonder the band sees the new "On With the Show" tour as a cause for celebration and plans to enjoy it.

"This is sort of pretty unprecedented, really, that someone should leave such a high-status group as Fleetwood Mac and then return," McVie told CBS News. "If you're not gonna have fun then, you're never gonna have any fun. So I'm sure that the whole band is in agreement that we wanna have a really good time and celebrate our friendship and our lives together."

WHO Fleetwood Mac

WHEN | WHERE 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Madison Square Garden

INFO $49.50-$199.50; 800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com

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KEEPING UP

Part of what keeps Fleetwood Mac strong 47 years after drummer Mick Fleetwood first teamed up with bassist John McVie is the way their individual projects feed into the band as a whole. Here's what The Mac's members have been up to recently:

MICK FLEETWOOD

MOST RECENT PROJECT His autobiography, "Play On: Now, Then and Fleetwood Mac," will be released Oct. 28, where Fleetwood tells the story of his career and his band.

ALSO WORKING ON His restaurant, Fleetwood's on Front Street, on the island of Maui, with specialties like cioppino and grilled shutome (swordfish).

STEVIE NICKS

MOST RECENT PROJECT Her new album, "24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault," will be released on Tuesday, featuring the single "The Dealer" and other previously unreleased songs.

ALSO WORKING ON The "24 Karat Gold" photo exhibit, featuring self-portrait Polaroids she has taken for decades while on tour, will open at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in Manhattan next Friday.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM

MOST RECENT PROJECT "One Man Show," his first solo acoustic live album, combining Fleetwood Mac classics with solo material such as "Trouble."

ALSO WORKING ON Songs for the new Fleetwood Mac album.

CHRISTINE McVIE

MOST RECENT PROJECT She put out a solo album "In the Meantime" in 2004 that she was proud of, but because of her fear of flying at the time could not promote.

ALSO WORKING ON Songs for the new Fleetwood Mac album.

JOHN McVIE

MOST RECENT PROJECT He's been focused on his health after being diagnosed last year with an unspecified cancer, resulting in the cancellation of the band's Australian tour last fall.

ALSO WORKING ON Songs for the new Fleetwood Mac album.