of humour. He loved to laugh, but he was also a straight shooter." Abandoning academic pursuits, Fleetwood took up the drums after his parents, recognising that he might find a future in music, bought him a "Gigster" drum kit when he was thirteen. His family encouraged his artistic side, as his father composed poetry and was an amateur drummer himself. Fleetwood was inspired—as he said at the Brits Awards ceremony in 1989—by Cliff Richard, Tony Meehan, drummer of the Shadows, and for the Everly Brothers. With his parents' support, he dropped out of school at 15 and, in 1963, moved to London to pursue a career as a drummer. At first, he stayed with his younger sister Sally in Notting Hill. After a brief stint working at Liberty in London, he found his first opportunity in music. Career Early efforts in London Keyboard player Peter Bardens lived only a few doors away from Fleetwood's first home in London, and upon hearing of the proximity of an available drummer, Bardens gave Fleetwood his first gig in Bardens' band the Cheynes in July 1963, thus seeding the young drummer's musical career. It would take him from the Cheynes—with whom he supported early gigs by the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds—to stints in the Bo Street Runners, where he replaced original drummer Nigel Hutchinson, who had enjoyed brief television fame on Ready Steady Go!. However, by April 1965, when Fleetwood joined the band, it was fading into obscurity. By February 1966, Bardens, who had left the group, called on Fleetwood to join his new band, the Peter Bs, which soon expanded to become Shotgun Express (with Rod Stewart). Peter Green, who was a guitarist in the Peter Bs, left to join John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, followed by Fleetwood in April 1967. His new band already featured John McVie. Green became a supportive bandmate who helped Fleetwood in his early experimentation with the drum kit. Fleetwood was, however, dismissed from the Bluesbreakers for repeated insobriety during gigs. Both Fleetwood and McVie were heavy drinkers, and their combined efforts were too much for Mayall and the band to cope with. Green, feeling trapped within the Bluesbreakers, also left in June 1967. Recalling "his favourite rhythm section, 'Fleetwood Mac'"—Mick Fleetwood and John McVie—Green elected to invite both to join him in his new band, Fleetwood Mac. Though McVie hesitated briefly due to financial reasons, both