Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood confirms 'seven miles of cocaine' story

Mick Fleetwood, drummer in iconic pop band Fleetwood Mac, has confirmed that a notorious tale of him snorting seven miles’ worth of cocaine in his lifetime is probably true.

The 71-year-old confessed to The Sun that his drug taking during the band’s heyday could “easily have ended the really bad way” and dismissed the “romance” of stories that make drugs seem glamorous.

Read more: Jagger feeling “pretty good” after surgery

In his 2014 memoir Play On, Fleetwood wrote that he had blown £20 million on cocaine and theorised it would stretch for seven miles if it were all laid out in a line.

Clarifying his statements from the book, he said: “I guess we figured we did X amount a day, and then some goofball got out a calculator and came up with that seven miles figure and said: ‘isn’t that funny?’

“And it sort of is. But not in the context of where I want to end up.”

Fleetwood said he “drifted away” from that lifestyle, never making a conscious decision to put it behind him.

He added: “It came to an end, thankfully. Because, God forbid, it could easily have ended the really bad way — for sure, that could have happened.

“In some ways I’m happy I got through it and didn’t bite the big bullet.

“But I just had a profound awareness and a realisation that enough is enough.”

He said he wanted to “speak appropriately” about the issue of drug use, having indulged in such “war stories” in the past.

Fleetwood Mac, best known for their 1977 album Rumours, are currently on tour and are playing multiple dates at Wembley Stadium in London.

They became notorious for the inner turmoil within the band, with affairs and romances filling the pages of tabloids.

Read more: Ed Sheeran and bizarre celeb endorsements

Fleetwood said he doesn’t think there will ever be a time when all of the band members are able to end up in “a good place” with each other.

He said: “The music comes back to haunt everyone afterwards anyway — and usually that wins out in the end.”