sleep after the show that was beautiful. And the boys did not get those. We would each have a presidential suite, and if there was only one available, me and Christine would flip a coin."

While there's something comical about someone denying their diva reputation by saying they only wanted a presidential suite, it's hard to disagree that Nicks was the victim of music industry sexism. When she told a crowd one night her song Rhiannon was "about a Welsh witch", rumour spread that it was she who practised witchcraft – again a tired cliche that the talented woman must be channelling evil powers. "Rhiannon was the only song I ever wrote about a sort of celestial being," she says, "but that song and the fact I wore black,for a chap to swallow if his wife or girlfriend is dashing off without being at home to cook his supper for him."

Given all of this, you wonder why – at 70, and having escaped the madness of the Mac so succesfully – McVie would want to rejoin one of the world's biggest rock bands.

There are no doubt several factors. For one thing she's overcome her fear of flying, thanks to therapy. She's also noticed the growing critical reappraisal of the band, to the extent that their once-derided music is now a vital touchstone for new bands ("I have friends with grandchildren in their teens and they've got Rumours, Tusk, all the live stuff – and they dig it, man, they really like it!"). And, of course, she's