Mick Fleetwood was born in the English county of Cornwall.
Born Michael John Kells Fleetwood on 24 June 1947, he arrived in Redruth, Cornwall, in south-west England. Although he is closely associated with London’s British blues scene and later with the United States, his birthplace is specifically Cornwall—not London, Somerset or Devon.
Fleetwood spent much of his childhood abroad because his father served as a Royal Air Force fighter pilot. The family lived in Egypt and later Norway, where Fleetwood became fluent in Norwegian. At 15, he moved to London to pursue music, eventually working with musicians including Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer.
In 1967, Fleetwood co-founded Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning. The band’s name combined Fleetwood’s surname with John McVie’s nickname, “Mac.” Fleetwood remained the group’s drummer and a constant member through its major line-up changes and international success.