Last weekend I rewatched the first season of Stranger Things and was reminded how it has always been right on point with its musical selections. Songs that have been prominently featured include “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” Peter Gabriel’s cover of “Heroes,” “Neverending Story,” “Master of Puppets,” and, of course, “Running Up That Hill.” After “Running Up That Hill” was first featured in season four, Kate Bush’s career got a huge bump and the song ended up hitting #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In season five, Stranger Things’ music department did it again. The last hour of the finale featured a killer lineup of “When Doves Cry,” “Purple Rain,” “Landslide,” and Bowie’s OG version of “Heroes.” In the immediate aftermath, Prince’s music had a huge surge in streaming numbers, with a reported 88% increase among Gen Z. Now, the youths are loving Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. “Landslide” just hit the Hot 100 for the first time.
Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” is getting its flowers. The iconic rock band’s 1975 song was recently featured in the series finale of Netflix’s Stranger Things on Dec. 31, and now the original recording is charting on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time ever.
“Landslide” sits at No. 41 on the publication’s chart dated Jan. 17, thanks to 7 million streams, 888,000 radio audience impressions and 1,000 paid downloads, according to Luminate via Billboard.
Nicks responded to the inclusion of “Landslide” in Stranger Things with an Instagram Stories post on Tuesday, Jan. 20. “Thanks for including us in such an incredible series,” she wrote alongside a clip from the Netflix show from Fleetwood Mac’s Instagram grid.
The ballad, which features lyrics and vocals from Stevie Nicks as well as guitar from Lindsey Buckingham and production from Keith Olsen, was first released on the band’s 1975 self-titled album. Despite never charting its original recording on the Billboard Hot 100, “Landslide” is certified two times platinum by the RIAA for over 2 million units sold.
A live version of “Landslide” was released on Fleetwood Mac’s 1997 live album The Dance and subsequently issued as an official single for the first time. That version reached No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Nicks reflected on crafting the song’s lyrics about aging and looking toward the future in a 2014 interview with The New York Times. “I wrote ‘Landslide’ in 1973, when I was 27, and I did already feel old in a lot of ways. I’d been working as a waitress and a cleaning lady for years. I was tired,” she said at the time.
“Landslide” earned major chart success in 2003, thanks to a cover by country trio The Chicks. The cover, released on the band’s 2002 Home album, reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As an Elder Millennial who lists The Dance version of “Landslide” in her Top 10 (the one that starts with “This is for you, Daddy”), I find it so crazy that there’s a whole-ass generation out there who are possibly discovering this song for the first time. That’s awesome, though, because it is perfection. “Landslide” is used at the start of the epilogue, which flash-forwards 18 months into the future and shows how Hawkins is rebuilding and getting back to normal. It’s a perfectly valid, wonderfully cliche place to play it, especially because the finale ends with the remaining original party members plus Max leaving their childhood behind.
I love that Gens Z and Alpha are getting exposed to the music that I listened to while growing up, like Prince, Bowie, Metallica, Fleetwood Mac, and more. I recently found out that I’m almost the exact same age as the Duffer Brothers, which explains why I’ve always related to their music selections. But, man, if younger generations are just discovering Fleetwood Mac’s discography, I cannot wait for them to also learn their gossipy lure and how they made incredible music while being an absolute sh-tshow behind the scenes. Someone please, open the schools.
