Why Fleetwood Mac Star Christine McVie Called Herself a ‘Fly in a Jam Jar’

Christine McVie died on Nov. 30, but before her death, the Fleetwood Mac star frequently spoke of her fear of flying. Here’s why McVie once referred to herself as a “fly in a jam jar” and how it relates to her airplane phobia.

Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie, who once called herself a — Christine McVie | Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images

Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie once called herself a ‘fly in a jam jar’

Christine McVie often spoke of her fear of flying, but the Fleetwood Mac star has also opened up about her agoraphobia.

“Well, my brother always described me as a fly in a jam jar. Because I did suffer from a bit of agoraphobia,” the keyboardist told CBS in September 2014. “I went through a few little problems along the way because of the isolation that drew me to seek some help along with my fear of flying.”

McVie said that after seeking treatment for her phobias, she morphed from a fly into a butterfly. “So I got that all sorted out. Yeah. I was a bit like a fly in a jam jar,” she said. “But my brother calls me a butterfly now.”

Christine McVie was an inspiration. She spent a career moving between genres, mixing bluesy vocals with massive pop hooks and rock with balladry. She found room in a gigantic, tumultuous rock band to deliver a poetic, empathetic and sophisticated point of view. A legend. pic.twitter.com/8LDUX9btVF

— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) November 30, 2022

Christine McVie said she had to take a break from performing due to her fear of flying

In 1998, Christine McVie took a hiatus from Fleetwood Mac shortly after the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The keyboardist said she had to leave the group due to her fear of flying and panic attacks. “I did have a phobia about flying. And I had the phobia when I left Fleetwood Mac,” she told CBS News (via Express).

Her best friend and bandmate, Stevie Nicks, said she understood why McVie left the group. “I understood why. I understood that in her heart of hearts, she could not do it anymore,” Nicks told Vulture in October 2014. “There were reasons… she was having panic attacks. She was getting to be afraid to fly. There’s nothing worse than being afraid to fly.”

After years of avoiding airplanes, McVie worked with a therapist to overcome her flying phobia. When the therapist asked where she would go if she could fly anywhere in the world, McVie’s instinctive response was to see her former bandmate, Mick Fleetwood.

“I said Maui because that’s where Mick [Fleetwood] was living at the time,” the keyboardist told Harper’s Bazaar in March 2019. “So, the therapist said, ‘Why don’t you just buy a ticket. You don’t have to get on the plane, just buy the ticket.’”

McVie continued, “Then as irony would have it, Mick called me just after and said, ‘Look, I’m coming to London, are you around?’ I told him that I’d just bought a ticket to see him and he said, ‘Well I’ll meet you in London then and we’ll fly back together.’ So that’s what I did.”

The Fleetwood Mac drummer said his friend and bandmate had ‘taken to flight’ when she died

Since Mick Fleetwood helped Christine McVie overcome her fear of flying, it makes sense that his tribute to the keyboardist after her death referenced flight several times. The day that McVie died after a brief illness, the Fleetwood Mac drummer posted some touching words about his friend.

“This is a day where my dear sweet Friend Christine McVie has taken to flight.. And left us earthbound folks to listen with bated breath to the sounds of that ‘song bird’…[treble clef emoji].. reminding one and all that love is all around us to reach for and touch in this precious life that is gifted to us,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Part of my heart has flown away today.. I will miss everything about you Christine McVie,” Fleetwood continued. “Memories abound.. They fly to me.”