"Greatest Hits" is a compilation album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on November 21, 1988, by Warner Bros. Records. The album focuses on the band's most commercially successful period, from the mid-1970s through the 1980s, following the arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in 1975. It includes some of the band's most iconic tracks, marking the height of their success, and is distinct from the earlier Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits released in 1971, which featured the Peter Green-led lineup.
The 1988 compilation includes hits from the Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982), and Tango in the Night (1987) albums, but it leaves out the pre-Buckingham-Nicks era tracks, such as "Albatross" and "Oh Well." The album also features two new tracks recorded specifically for the collection: "As Long as You Follow" (released as a single) and "No Questions Asked." These new songs were part of the band's post-Buckingham era and showcased the direction the group was taking with the addition of new members like Rick Vito and Billy Burnette after Buckingham's departure in 1987.
The track listing for the Greatest Hits compilation differs slightly between the United States and other international markets. The U.S. version includes the 1975 track "Over My Head," while the international version omits it but adds "Seven Wonders" (a hit from Tango in the Night) and "Oh Diane" (from Mirage). "Seven Wonders" was a top 20 hit in the U.S., but its exclusion from the U.S. release was notable.
Greatest Hits was a massive commercial success. It peaked at No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart and sold steadily over the years, earning 8× Platinum certification by the RIAA for shipping over 8 million copies in the U.S. alone. In the United Kingdom, the album reached No. 3 upon release and has been certified Triple Platinum for shipping 900,000 copies.
The album continues to be one of Fleetwood Mac's most popular releases, serving as an excellent introduction to their biggest hits from the mid-70s through the late-80s, as well as a retrospective of their commercial peak during this period.
The compilation's release came after Fleetwood Mac's peak success, marked by Rumours (1977), one of the best-selling albums of all time. The band's lineup had undergone several changes, particularly with the departure of Lindsey Buckingham in 1987, and Greatest Hits can be seen as a way to showcase the band's enduring popularity through the 1980s, even without Buckingham's presence.
Rick Vito, who joined Fleetwood Mac in 1987 to help replace Buckingham, referred to the compilation as a "presentation of the new band" and a way of ushering in a "new era." This reflects the band's ability to maintain commercial success even as their lineup evolved.
The Greatest Hits album has endured as one of Fleetwood Mac's most well-known and widely available collections. It has also contributed to the band's continued relevance in popular culture. The song "As Long as You Follow" was especially notable as it introduced a more modern pop sound for the band during the late-80s and received considerable airplay on adult contemporary radio.
Notably, this album is often regarded as the last commercially released 8-track tape by a major label, marking the end of an era for this format in the late 1980s.
Greatest Hits serves as a definitive collection of Fleetwood Mac's most popular tracks from the 1975–1987 period, showcasing the band's remarkable transformation from a blues-rock band to a pop-rock powerhouse. With its blend of timeless classics and new material, it remains a significant part of the band's legacy, and its continued popularity underscores Fleetwood Mac's place in rock history.
