The theatrical cover photo of Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks — him holding a crystal ball, her in flowing chiffon — masks the emotional chaos behind the scenes, where every romantic relationship in the band was simultaneously falling apart.
The cover photograph shows Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks in a quasi-theatrical pose. Fleetwood wears a costume that includes wooden balls hanging from his belt — a long-running visual joke from the band's live shows (the balls later became a permanent fixture of his stage attire, dangling between his legs as a sly phallic gag). Nicks wears flowing black chiffon and ballet slippers, holding one leg behind her in a dancer's pose. Fleetwood holds a crystal ball, and the overall effect is somewhere between Renaissance fair and fever dream.
The photo was one of many taken during an elaborate session. Other shots from the session show the full band in various theatrical poses, but the Fleetwood-Nicks pairing was chosen for the front cover. The staging was meant to evoke a mystical, romantic atmosphere — ironic given the personal chaos behind the scenes.
The album was recorded during one of the most emotionally tumultuous periods in rock history. Every romantic relationship within the band was simultaneously falling apart: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had ended their romantic partnership but continued working together (their bitterness fueling songs like "Go Your Own Way" and "Dreams"); Christine and John McVie had recently divorced but still shared a band (she wrote "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun" — the latter about her affair with the band's lighting director); and Mick Fleetwood's marriage to Jenny Boyd was collapsing. The band members were also heavily using cocaine and alcohol during the sessions at Record Plant studios in Sausalito, California.
Producer Ken Caillat later described the sessions as an exercise in controlled chaos — band members would record their parts separately to avoid conflict, sometimes leaving the studio in tears, only to return and create some of the most emotionally powerful pop music ever recorded. The personal pain was directly channeled into the songwriting, giving the album its extraordinary emotional authenticity.
Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. The cover image, with its theatrical bohemianism, became the visual signature of the band's most celebrated era. The story of the album's creation — great art born from personal devastation — has become one of rock's most enduring narratives, inspiring books, documentaries, and even a musical adaptation.