"Landslide" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by Stevie Nicks, first featured on the band's 1975 album Fleetwood Mac. A live version from the reunion album The Dance was released as a single in 1998, climbing to 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1998.

The original studio recording appears on the compilation albums 25 Years – The Chain (1992), The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (2002), and 50 Years – Don't Stop (2018). "Landslide" was certified Gold in October 2009 for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States. According to Nielsen Soundscan, "Landslide" sold 2,093,186 copies in the United States as of 2017.

Rolling Stone ranked the song 163rd among their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021. The original studio version debuted at No. 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in January 2026 following its inclusion on the series finale of the Netflix series Stranger Things.

Composition and recording Stevie Nicks has said that she wrote "Landslide" while contemplating either going back to school or continuing on professionally with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. At the time, Nicks was financially supporting both herself and Buckingham by taking up jobs as both a waitress and a cleaning lady. Following the release of their debut album Buckingham Nicks, they had been dropped from their recording contract by Polydor Records before they could release a follow-up. Nicks wrote the song while visiting Aspen, Colorado, sitting in someone's living room "looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us ... at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways."See Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (insert) (2007)

On the studio recording of "Landslide", Buckingham played a Martin D-18 acoustic guitar using a Travis picking technique with the thumb alternating between bass notes. He described the part as a "three against four pattern that crosses the bar line and gives the chorus another level of lift." In 2007, Buckingham told The Austin Chronicle that the song addressed some of the interpersonal issues between him and Nicks. He thought that the song possessed a "nice" guitar solo and also maintained that "Landslide" was not a "signature guitar piece". In a different interview, Buckingham discussed how he bristled at the notion that "Landslide" was associated with country music.

Live performances and release

"Landslide" is one of Fleetwood Mac's most frequently performed during tours. Nicks has sung it on every Fleetwood Mac tour since joining the band, with the exception of the Shake the Cage Tour, and has performed it on all of her own solo tours from 2005's Two Voices Tour onwards.The Past Tour Pages , The Fleetwood Mac Legacy A live performance of "Landslide" recorded on 27 June 1980 at the London Wembley Arena was included on Live. For early live performances of "Landslide", Buckingham played the song on an Ovation guitar with a built-in pickup. Other live recordings of "Landslide" also appear on Live in Boston (2004), Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (2007) (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), The Soundstage Sessions (2009), Soundstage (2004) and the Live in Chicago DVD (2009).

"Landslide" was never issued as a single until the band released a live version from Fleetwood Mac's 1997 album The Dance. Radio & Records reported that this version of "Landslide" was serviced to hot adult contemporary radio stations in its 16 January 1998 publication. "Landslide" debuted at number 59 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week dated 18 July 1998, becoming the band's second entry on the chart during the 1990s after "Save Me", which was released eight years prior. "Landslide" eventually peaked at number 51; it became their last single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 until 2003, when "Peacekeeper" debuted at number 93. "Landslide" also reached the top 30 on both the US and Canadian adult contemporary charts.

Following the song's inclusion on the season finale of "Stranger Things", an American television series that aired on Netflix, the studio version of "Landslide" entered the charts in several countries. It received 7 million streams, 800,000 radio impressions, and 1,000 downloads in the United States from 2–8 January 2026, which was sufficient for a debut of No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first time the band appeared on the chart since 2020 when "Dreams" re-entered the listing after being featured in a TikTok video. In the United Kingdom, "Landslide" debuted at No. 20 on the Official Singles Chart, making it the band's first new entry on the chart since 2009, when "The Chain" entered at No. 94.

Nicks performed "Landslide" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a duet with Sabrina Carpenter for the Met Gala on 4 May 2026.

Reception In a contemporary review, Rolling Stone wrote that Nicks seemed "lost and out of place" on "Landslide" and that her voice sounded "callow and mannered".

In his review of the Fleetwood Mac album, Ben Edmonds of Phonograph Record said that "Landslide" demonstrated Nicks' versatility as a songwriter.

Retrospective reviews have been more positive, with publications such as The Guardian and Paste ranking "Landslide" among the band's best work. AllMusic described "Landslide" as a traditional song "built on a very simple (and very effective) country-folk-inspired chord progression".

Personnel Stevie Nicks – vocals Lindsey Buckingham – guitars

Charts

Weekly charts + Chart (1998) Peakposition

+ Chart (2020) Peakposition Australia (ARIA) N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. 115

+ Chart (2021) Peakposition US Rock Digital Songs (Billboard) 5

+ Chart (2025–2026) Peakposition Australia On Replay Singles (ARIA) 16 Norway (IFPI Norge) 86 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 63

Year-end charts + Chart (1998) Position US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 25 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard) 57

Certifications

Cover versions The Smashing Pumpkins

Alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins recorded an acoustic arrangement of the song that was featured as the B-side to their 1994 single "Disarm" and later on their B-side collection Pisces Iscariot.

The group's arrangement went on to be one of the rock band's most-beloved tracks and even had the approval of Nicks herself. As she told fans during a 1998 online chat with SonicNet, "There's nothing more pleasing to a songwriter than [someone else] doing one of their songs. ['Landslide'] also led me to being friends with Billy Corgan and the possibility that we'll work together," she said of the Smashing Pumpkins frontman. "Over this song, there's been this incredible connection ... he reached out ... I believe that my poetry is really meant for everyone, no matter what age."

The new version was a hit, making it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the United States that year and No. 30 on the US Airplay charts. The song was also featured on the US version of their 2001 greatest hits album Rotten Apples. It was later used in the TV show Alias on season 1 in the 2002 episode "Page 47".

Charts + Chart (1994) Peakposition

Dixie Chicks

American country music group Dixie Chicks released a cover of "Landslide" on August 26, 2002, as the second single from their 2002 album, Home. Lead singer Natalie Maines said she was attracted to the song because she was then the same age that Nicks was when she first performed it. The band performed the song with Nicks at VH1 Divas Las Vegas in 2002.

This version, featuring the band's two- and three-part harmonies, reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. On the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, it is the band's only number-one single. After Maines publicly criticised President George W. Bush and the imminent Allied invasion of Iraq, triggering a backlash, it fell to number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 in one week and left the chart a week later.

Outside the United States, "Landslide" reached number two in Canada and became the band's only top-10 hit in Australia, where it reached number six. It was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

Track listings US and Canadian CD single "Landslide" (album version) – 3:49 "Landslide" (the Sheryl Crow remix) – 3:47

Australian CD single "Landslide" (the Sheryl Crow remix) "Landslide" "Landslide" (live from the Kodak Theater) "Landslide" (video version)

European maxi-CD single "Landslide" (album version) – 3:49 "Long Time Gone" – 4:08 "Landslide" (the Sheryl Crow remix) – 3:47 "Landslide" (the Sheryl Crow remix—video) – 3:45

UK CD single "Landslide" (the Sheryl Crow remix) – 3:47 "Landslide" (album version) – 3:49 "Landslide" (live from the Kodak Theater) – 4:07 "Landslide" (the Sheryl Crow remix—video version) – 3:45

Charts

Weekly charts +Chart (2002–2003)PeakpositionCanada (Nielsen SoundScan)2

Year-end charts +Chart (2002)PositionCanada (Nielsen SoundScan)34US Hot Country Singles & Tracks (Billboard)48

+Chart (2003)PositionAustralia (ARIA)42US Billboard Hot 10035US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)17US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)19US Hot Country Singles & Tracks (Billboard)66US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)70

Certifications

Release history +RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)United States26 August 2002Country radio28 October 200218 November 2002Contemporary hit radioAustralia24 March 2003CDUnited Kingdom7 April 2003Columbia

Glee version In 2011, the cast of Fox Broadcasting Company's musical television program, Glee, performed the song in season 2, episode 15, "Sexy". Gwyneth Paltrow, Naya Rivera, and Heather Morris are featured on vocals for this version. Stevie Nicks attended the filming of the song and stated that it was a "beautiful mix" of the original and the Chicks version.

Other cover versions Anohni recorded the song for the tribute album Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac. Harry Styles performed this song with Nicks during his show at the Troubadour in May 2017. The Japanese House recorded a cover of this song for Spotify Singles, released 26 July 2017. Parodied by Lucy Lawless (in character as Stevie Nicks) in a 17 October 1998 season 24 episode of Saturday Night Live. On 12 March 2019, Australian pop singer Conrad Sewell recorded a cover of the song for Australian bank Westpac, in a campaign designed to target families dealing with separation and the resulting financial consequences. Branding in Asia described the rendition as "powerful", while The Music Networks Jake Challenor praised Sewell's performance as "soulful and emotionally charged". Gus Dapperton released a cover in 2022 to mark his signing to Warner Brothers Records. Brittany Snow (as Bobby-Lynne Parker) and Scott Mescudi (as Jackson Hollis) performed a cover in the Ti West period slasher film X (2022), which is set in 1979, four years after the original song had been released.

See also List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2003

References

External links