“Don’t Stop” is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by vocalist and keyboardist Christine McVie. The song was sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, and it was a single taken from the band’s hit album Rumours (1977).
One of the band’s most enduring hits, “Don’t Stop” was released as the second single from Rumours in the United Kingdom in April 1977, peaking at No. 32, while in the US it followed “Dreams” as the third single from the album in June, eventually peaking at No. 3 at Billboard Hot 100 in September.
“Don’t Stop” is a pop rock song. It reflects Christine McVie’s feelings after her separation from Fleetwood Mac’s bass guitarist, John McVie, after eight years of marriage. McVie noted in The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies, that “Don’t Stop” was directed towards her ex-husband John McVie, who was unaware of the song’s subject matter until its release. “I’ve been playing it for years and it wasn’t until somebody told me, ‘Chris wrote that about you.’ Oh really?”
The song was originally tracked with drums, bass, electric guitar, and electric piano on March 16, 1976. Its working title was “Yesterday’s Gone”, although the title was changed a few weeks later to “Don’t Stop” once Buckingham started to sing the song as a duet with McVie. The decision to sing “Don’t Stop” as a duet was made by McVie, which significantly improved the song according to Fleetwood Mac producer Ken Caillat. Take 25 was deemed satisfactory and used as the master.
On August 9, McVie replaced the electric piano with a tack piano, an instrument with metal thumb tacks attached to the hammers. Fleetwood Mac producer Ken Caillat described the decision to add a tack piano as a “breakthrough” that “made the song bounce along”. During the same recording session, Buckingham overdubbed an “up-strumming syncopated electric guitar part, along with some lead licks” and also doubled his vocals with McVie, which allowed for the backing tracks to be pushed up in the mix. In Caillat’s estimation, this provided the song with “a new range of dynamic energy”.
Caillat commented that he was never fond of “Don’t Stop”, citing grievances with the tempo and the sound of the drums, but he stated that Christine McVie still loved the song. He was more complimentary of the band’s backing vocals after the song’s final chorus. “The band kept changing their background vocals. Anytime I thought I knew what they’d sing, they’d do something different. That’s a hallmark of classic Fleetwood Mac, their backgrounds. They’re incredible singers.”
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