Fleetwood Mac’s 1982 album *Mirage* was one of the band’s commercial successes, but Christine McVie later said she had very few memories of making it. The article places this in the aftermath of the group’s highly strained late-1970s period, when personal break-ups and heavy substance use had contributed to conflict within the band.

Mick Fleetwood had intended *Mirage* to recreate the more contained, collaborative atmosphere of the *Rumours* sessions, with the aim of producing a more commercial record. McVie told *Mojo* in 2017 that she was unsure the approach had worked, calling the album “strange”; she recalled drinking Courvoisier with producer Ken Caillat while waiting for signs that her studio room, allegedly haunted by author George Sand, was haunted.