Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer and keyboardist, dies aged 79

Singer-songwriter best known for hits You Make Loving Fun and Little Lies

Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie has died at the age of 79, her family has said. PA

Fleetwood Mac bass guitarist John McVie and his future wife and bandmate Christine Perfect at a party for the band in London, 1969. AP

Fleetwood Mac pose with their Album of the Year Grammy Award for Rumours in Los Angeles, 1978. AP

McVie, left, with Stevie Nicks in 2018. AFP

Fleetwood Mac arrive for the 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year gala at Radio City Music Hall in New York. AFP

Fleetwood Mac members, from left, John McVie, Nicks, Christine McVie, Fleetwood and Buckingham after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York, 1998. AFP

Fleetwood Mac, circa 1977. Clockwise from left: Buckingham, Fleetwood, McVie, John McVie and Nicks, centre. Getty

Rumours has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide, making it the 4th highest selling album of all time. Getty

Fleetwood Mac accept their award on stage at the 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year gala at Radio City Music Hall in New York. AFP

Members of Fleetwood Mac, from left, Mike Campbell, John McVie, Nicks, McVie and Fleetwood at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in New York, in March 2019. AP

McVie performs at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2014. AP

Fleetwood, McVie, Nicks and Dave Stewart in London. PA

McVie's embroidered Warner Bros varsity jacket, part of an auction at Julien's Auctions in Beverly Hills, California. EPA

The two-day auction event will be held in Beverly Hills on December 3 and 4 and had been scheduled well before McVie's death. EPA

A signed photo of Fleetwood Mac band members. EPA

Rumours was an instant commercial success, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide within just a month of its release. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year. EPA

McVie's skeleton key necklace will also hit the auction block. EPA

McVie wore this sequined jacket ensemble on stage in 2014. EPA

In 1999, McVie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac, and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. EPA

In 1977, Rumours produced four US Top 10 singles and remained at No 1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. Getty

Cover art for the self-titled album by Buckingham and McVie. Atlantic Records / AP

Fleetwood Mac keyboardist and singer-songwriter Christine McVie died at age 79 on Wednesday, her bandmates announced.

“There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie. She was truly one of a kind, special and talented beyond measure,” the band said.

“She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life.”

McVie married bass player John McVie and joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971, when the band experienced a tumultuous period after the departure of founding member and lead guitarist Peter Green.

Her first contribution to the band came in that year's album Future Games, which showed the beginning of the band moving away from the blues-inspired music on which they built their first period of fame.

It would be another four years until Fleetwood Mac became a pop rock powerhouse with the introductions of singer Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

"A few hours ago, I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away," Nicks wrote in a handwritten note posted on Twitter.

"I didn't even know she was ill... until late Saturday night. I wanted to be in London; I wanted to get to London - but we were told to wait.

So, since Saturday, one song has been swirling in my head, over, and over and over. I thought I might possibly get to sing it to her, and so, I'm singing it to her now."

Photos in the tweet show the handwritten lyrics of the song she thought of and an image of her and McVie.

McVie's divorce from the bass player was part of a period of intense break-ups in the band, which were ultimately inspired to produce the chart-topping album Rumours in 1977.

She wrote some of the band's highest-charting singles including Say You Love Me, Don't Stop, You Make Loving Fun, Little Lies, and Everywhere.

McVie left the band in 1998 but returned in 2014.

Mick Fleetwood also posted his condolences on Twitter, "I will miss everything about you Christine McVie."

In 2017 she and Buckingham released the album Buckingham-McVie.

An auction of the band's items — including a jewel-encrusted skeleton key necklace worn by McVie — is due to take place at Julien's Auction House in Beverly Hills on December 3 and 4.