Fleetwood Mac hit 1977 song “Dreams” back on the Billboard Hot 100 List.
Image courtesy of Matt: At Home in the World
November 12, 2020
By Carolyn Malman
On October 17th, 2020, the Fleetwood Mac song titled “Dreams” became 21st on the Billboard Hot 100 List after not appearing on the list since 1977 when the song came out. Stevie Nicks wrote this song for the band, and it quickly soared to number one, and remained on this list for about four months. In addition, the album where the track appears titled Rumours remained number one for 37 weeks, which makes it the album with the longest reign at number one by a duo or group. But how does a hit 1970s song come back after more than 40 years since it was last popular? The answer lies in the popular social media app Tik Tok, which many artists can thank for the success of their songs.
The song first gained notoriety on the app when Nathan Apocada, a Tik Tok user, posted a video of him riding a skateboard, drinking Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, and lip synching to this 1977 hit song. This video quickly went viral as Apocaba’s cool vibes, and relaxed energy had the internet obsessing over the video. This launched the “Dreams Challenge” where people all over the world were trying to recreate this iconic video from Apocaba. Even Fleetwood Mac band mates such as Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had their own renditions of the video.
Further, other Fleetwood Mac songs are gaining popularity in a new generation of listeners. The Chain”, “Go Your Own Way”, and Gypsy” all went up between 17-22% streaming in teenagers, who make up the majority of the users on the app Tik Tok. These teens are the force that spreads Fleetwood Mac’s popularity into the 21st century. These young people are being exposed to an older generation of music that they have never explored before, and they are thriving in this 1970’s colorful aesthetic.
