"Dreams" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written and sung by Stevie Nicks for the band's eleventh studio album, Rumours (1977). In the United States, "Dreams" was released as the second single from Rumours in March 1977, by Warner Bros., while in the United Kingdom, the song was released as the third single in June 1977. A stage performance of "Dreams" was used as the promotional music video.

In the US, "Dreams" sold more than one million copies and reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, the band's only number-one single in the country. In Canada, "Dreams" also reached number one on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart.

In late 2020, the song experienced a widespread resurgence in popularity as a result of a viral TikTok video created by Nathan Apodaca, which featured the song while he was riding his skateboard to work while drinking Ocean Spray cran-raspberry juice. The song subsequently re-entered national music charts and also entered the Spotify and Apple Music charts in certain countries. "Dreams" was ranked number nine on Rolling Stones 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Background and composition The members of Fleetwood Mac were experiencing emotional upheavals while recording the Rumours album. Mick Fleetwood was going through a divorce, Christine McVie and John McVie were separating, while Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were ending their eight-year relationship. "We had to go through this elaborate exercise of denial," explained Buckingham to Blender magazine, "keeping our personal feelings in one corner of the room while trying to be professional in the other."

Stevie Nicks wrote the song in early 1976 at Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California. "One day when I wasn't required in the main studio," Nicks told Blender magazine. "I took a Fender Rhodes piano and went into another studio that was said to belong to Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone. It was a black-and-red room, with a sunken pit in the middle where there was a piano, and a big black-velvet bed with Victorian drapes."

"I sat down on the bed with my keyboard in front of me," continues Nicks. "I found a drum pattern, switched my little cassette player on and wrote 'Dreams' in about 10 minutes. Right away I liked the fact that I was doing something with a dance beat, because that made it a little unusual for me."

Nicks recalled that the band was initially unsure about the merits of "Dreams" when they first heard the track. At the insistence of Nicks, the band recorded a demo of "Dreams" the following day. A basic track was recorded at Sausalito, with Nicks playing the Rhodes piano and singing. Cris Morris, who served as a recording assistant for Rumours, remembered that they retained the drum track and Stevie's live vocals from these initial sessions; the guitars and bass were recorded later in Los Angeles. Christine McVie described the song as having "just three chords and one note in the left hand" and "boring" when Nicks played a rough version on the piano. McVie changed her mind after Buckingham "fashioned three sections out of identical chords, making each section sound completely different. He created the impression that there's a thread running through the whole thing."

Recording Producer Ken Caillat made an eight bar drum loop of Fleetwood's drumming to create "deep hypnotic effect". Caillat said of the loop that "It's funny, but when people talk about the classic rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie and they point to this one song, I'm always amused that they're talking about a drum loop." The electric guitars were sent through four different signals: "a direct signal, a miked signal, a signal running from the output of the amp head, and another direct signal from a volume pedal". These signals were then panned in stereo, which in producer Richard Dashut's estimation, allowed for the guitars to move across the left and right channels "in a very majestic way".

When deciding on the proper equipment for the lead vocals, Caillat assembled a series of eight microphones and asked Nicks to sing into them to determine which one she preferred. Nicks ultimately selected a Sennheiser 441 microphone, which was a relatively inexpensive microphone according to Caillat. "When she got to [that] one particular mic and sang into it, she said, 'Oh my god, I love this mic! It sounds great!', and my job was done." Caillat placed a windscreen a half-inch away from the microphone and asked Nicks to sing against it so that the lower frequencies of her voice would be captured. A guide vocal sung by Nicks was used as the final take, albeit with punch-ins on a few lines, as they could not achieve a superior vocal or recapture the interplay with the drums. In total, Nicks recorded ten different lead vocal tracks.

Buckingham determined which harmonies to sing during the song's chorus by playing triads on a piano with Nicks and McVie situated around the instrument. Once they settled on their parts, Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie doubled their three-part harmonies to achieve a fuller sound. The band decided that the pre-chorus needed more instrumentation, so Fleetwood added some tom-tom accents starting at the song's 48 second mark. Christine McVie originally played sparse whole notes on a piano during this section, but this was deemed unsuitable, so Dashut suggested the addition of a vibraphone instead, which was also played by McVie. Delay was applied to each vibraphone hit so that each note would repeat. During the same session, Fleetwood wanted to overdub some congas, but the instrument was not readily available, so he waited until the next day to record them. The congas were placed in the back of the mix starting with the "thunder only happens when it's raining" lyric.

Reception Billboard characterised "Dreams" as a "midtempo ballad with its easily-apparent lyric examination of her breakup" with Buckingham. They also highlighted Nicks' "breathier" vocal delivery and thought that the song's "simple, precise bass-drums line underpins the uncluttered instrumental backing." Cash Box believed that "Dreams" was "subdued in comparison" to "Go Your Own Way" with its "softly droning bass [that] backs Stevie Nicks' alluring lead vocal." Record World said that the single appeared "certain to extend the group's hot streak" and concluded by saying that "Stevie Nicks' vocal makes these dreams a melodic reality." New York Times critic John Rockwell called the single a "classy record" and commented on the appeal provided by Nicks' "strange, nasal yet husky soprano" and Mick Fleetwood's "wonderfully crisp, exact drumming."

The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number one and number four, respectively, on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian reflected that the song's "lasting power" could be attributed to the lyrics, the "drowsy delivery" from Nicks, and the "hazy" instrumentation.

Chart performance and legacy In the United States, "Dreams" reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 18 June 1977, and held it for one week. On the Adult Contemporary chart, "Dreams" peaked at number 11, making it the band's highest-charting single on that chart during the 1970s. On the UK Singles Chart, "Dreams" went to number 24, staying in the top 40 for eight weeks during its initial run.

Since its initial release, "Dreams" has re-entered the charts on various occasions. It picked up two additional weeks on the UK charts in 2011 following the airing of the Glee "Rumours" episode. In 2018, "Dreams" returned to the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart at number 14, re-popularized by a viral tweet. The song also returned to the New Zealand charts for one week in 2019 at number 40. The song then re-entered the New Zealand charts on 5 October 2020 at number 28 and spent 71 consecutive weeks in the top 40, whilst also reaching a new peak of number six. The same year, it also entered the Irish charts for the first time.

In October 2020, the song reached number one on the Billboard Rock Digital Song Sales chart as a result of a viral TikTok video of Nathan Apodaca lip syncing to the song while skateboarding down a highway in Idaho Falls, Idaho, drinking Ocean Spray cran-raspberry juice. Following the popularity of the video, "Dreams" also placed among the Top 50 most-streamed songs on Spotify and Apple Music in the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, re-entering the ARIA in Australia (where it reached a new peak) and the UK Official Charts. "Dreams" also re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 21 on 17 October 2020, giving the band its highest placement on the Hot 100 since 20 February 1988, when "Everywhere" charted at number 17. "Dreams" then rose to number 12 the following week.

Personnel Stevie Nickslead vocals, backing vocals Christine McVieFender Rhodes electric piano, organ, vibraphone, backing vocals Lindsey Buckinghamelectric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals Mick Fleetwooddrums, congas John McViebass guitar

Charts

Weekly charts + 1977 weekly chart performance for "Dreams"Chart (1977)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report) 19Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) 4Canada Top Singles (RPM) 1New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 16UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 24US Cash Box Top 100 1US Record World Singles 1 + 2019 weekly chart performance for "Dreams" Chart (2019) Peakposition + 2020 weekly chart performance for "Dreams" Chart (2020) Peakposition Australia (ARIA) 4 Billboard Global 200 10 France (SNEP) 93 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 6 US Rolling Stone Top 100 3 + 2025–2026 weekly chart performance for "Dreams" Chart (2025–2026) Peakposition Greece International (IFPI) 58 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 32UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 18

Year-end charts + 1977 year-end charts for "Dreams"Chart (1977)PositionCanada Top Singles (RPM)18Netherlands (Single Top 100)100US Billboard Hot 10039US Cash Box Top 100 21

+ 2020 year-end charts for "Dreams" Chart (2020) Position New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 42 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 17

+ 2021 year-end charts for "Dreams" Chart (2021) Position Australia (ARIA) 22 Global 200 (Billboard) 64 Ireland (IRMA) 41 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 12 UK Singles (OCC) 54 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) 34

+ 2022 year-end charts for "Dreams" Chart (2022) Position Australia (ARIA) 35 Global 200 (Billboard) 101 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 11 UK Singles (OCC) 74

+ 2023 year-end charts for "Dreams" Chart (2023) Position Australia (ARIA) 33 Global 200 (Billboard) 157 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 10 UK Singles (OCC) 57

+ 2024 year-end charts for "Dreams" Chart (2024) Position Australia (ARIA) 36 Global 200 (Billboard) 95 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 99 UK Singles (OCC) 48

+ 2025 year-end charts for "Dreams" Chart (2025) Position Australia (ARIA) 44 Global 200 (Billboard) 62 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 39 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 55 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 94 UK Singles (OCC) 37

Certifications

The Corrs version

Irish band the Corrs originally recorded "Dreams" for Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, the 20th anniversary album of cover versions which also featured "Don't Stop" by Elton John, "You Make Loving Fun" by Jewel and others from the Goo Goo Dolls and the Cranberries. The cover version was originally recorded similar to the original song until Oliver Leiber transformed the recording into a dance track mixed with a violin and tin whistle hook. It was then remixed by Todd Terry for single release and became the first big hit for the Corrs in the UK, reaching number six on the UK Singles Chart and staying on the chart for 10 weeks. The video, directed by Dani Jacobs and filmed in Singapore, also won the "Best Adult Contemporary Video" award from Billboard magazine in 1998. The Corrs' second studio album, Talk on Corners, was then re-released with "Dreams" added.