CHRISTINE McVIE Estate And PAT BENATAR Sell Music Rights To HarbourView Equity

Christine McVie’s estate and Pat Benatar have both closed deals to sell rights to their music to the acquisition firm HarbourView Equity Partners, the company tells Rolling Stone.

McVie’s estate has sold her stake in Fleetwood Mac’s recorded music, which includes shares in hits like the McVie-sung tracks “Songbird” and “Say You Love Me,” along with other band staples “Go Your Own Way,” “The Chain” and “Dreams.” Benatar — as well as her longtime musical partner and husband Neil Giraldo — sold an unspecified stake in both their recorded music and publishing rights. (In an interview, Harbourview CEO Sherrese Clarke Soares declined to give financial details on both purchases.)

The McVie estate deal marks yet another member of Fleetwood Mac to sell their rights since the acquisition boom began in the late 2010s. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Mick Fleetwood similarly sold his stake in the band’s recordings to BMG in 2021, while Lindsey Buckingham sold his publishing catalog to Hipgnosis the same year. Stevie Nicks sold a majority stake in her publishing catalog to Primary Wave in 2020. The McVie deal comes nearly a year after the singer died in November 2022 at 79.  

“She’s iconic. Christine wrote those beautiful, melodic pop songs, and it was Christine who really kept them together as Fleetwood Mac’s guiding star,” Clarke Soares says. “Being able to participate in the legacy of Fleetwood Mac but also to align with a female rock icon as a female-owned and run firm doesn’t happen every day, it’s special. Christine’s no longer with us, but she was obviously such a major and important force in the world of rock and roll.”

Through the Benatar deal, HarbourView is buying a cut in one of the best-selling catalogs of the late 1970s and Eighties, with hits like “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “We Belong,” “Love Is A Battlefield” and “Heartbreaker.” Benatar and Giraldo were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame together in 2022.

Read the full story at Rolling Stone.