Fleetwood Mac is one of the most successful bands of all time, with hits like “The Chain,” “Silver Springs,” and “Rhiannon” constantly re-entering the cultural zeitgeist. The group has inspired books and television shows like Daisy Jones and the Six, and its members (particularly Stevie Nicks) have gone on to enjoy fruitful solo careers and acting opportunities. But before the band’s breakaway success and legendary Rumours album, it had a completely different lineup—one that included slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer.
Spencer joined the band during its very first incarnation in 1967 and departed in 1971 to join the Children of God, a cult known for its abusive practices that counts Rose McGowan, River Phoenix, and Joaquin Phoenix as former members. Since joining, Spencer has faced a slew of allegations of brutal abuse. His story, obscured by the band’s more popular years and better known members, is a disturbing aside in the history of both the band and in rock and roll at large.
Jeremy Spencer Left Fleetwood Mac for the Children of God
Born in Hartlepool, England in 1948, Jeremy Spencer grew up playing music. He was particularly interested in the piano and guitar, developing a specialty in slide guitar in his teens and a penchant for the music of Elmore James. By 1967, he gained the attention of fellow musician Peter Green, who’d previously played with the Bluesbreakers and was embarking on a new project called Fleetwood Mac alongside drummer Mick Fleetwood. Spencer joined the new group, followed shortly thereafter by John McVie.
During its early years, Fleetwood Mac primarily played the blues music that Spencer loved so dearly. The band was also notorious for its onstage antics, and Spencer’s were of a particularly crude, sexual nature. He was known, for instance, for wearing sex toys during shows and for throwing condoms filled with milk into the audience. However, while the rest of the band tended to party and socialize after shows, Spencer was often found alone in his dressing room, reading the Bible.
Eventually, Spencer grew displeased with the mainstream direction the band was headed in, preferring to stick to the blues. And in 1971, amid this backdrop, he told his mates he would be going to the bookstore to buy a magazine. He never returned. In an interview, Fleetwood later said that Spencer had been whisked away by a religious cult, that he’d shaven his head, and that he was “walking around in a daze like a zombie,” mumbling, “Jesus loves you.” Spencer has since disputed this claim, maintaining that he left Fleetwood Mac because he was unhappy with the direction the band was going in, and that he joined the Children of God (now known as The Family International) of his own volition. Regardless of how it happened, one thing’s for sure: Spencer left the band to become a devoted member of the Children of God thereafter. He even headed the organization’s musical initiatives and formed a band within the group. They released an album called Jeremy Spencer and the Children in 1972.
Jeremy Spencer Has Faced Countless Abuse Accusations, but Few Consequences
Spencer and the Children of God have long been mired in controversy. The cult’s founder, David Berg, has been accused of physical and sexual abuse by a number of former members, and is an outspoken anti-Semite. Leaked media and witness testimony have also maintained that Berg encouraged prostitution, incest, child abuse, and sexual contact with minors. Within this context, Spencer quickly rose within the ranks of the group and, according to a number of former members, he was particularly abusive. Among his accusers are Daniella Mestyanek Young, who detailed his physical and sexual abuse in her memoir, Uncultured; Davida Kelly; Spencer’s first wife, Fiona Spencer, who was 14 years old when she began a relationship with him; David Berg’s granddaughter, Merry Berg; and sisters Juliana Buhring, Celeste Jones, and Kristina Jones, who wrote the harrowing memoir, Not Without My Sister. Spencer has also faced similar accusations that have been filed in the United Kingdom, Argentina, and the United States. In a 1995 child custody case, a judge noted that Spencer sexually abused his daughter and Berg’s granddaughter while running the Children of God’s Music with Meaning initiative and solicited inappropriate videos of children. Despite all of these accusations, Spencer remains at large, the statute of limitations having run out for many of his accusers. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and he has toured with both Mick Fleetwood and the band Steetley throughout the last two decades.
Spencer’s involvement in the Children of God also exposes the dark underbelly of the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s. After all, the Children of God describe their first followers as “born-again hippies,” many of whom felt lost and were seeking a sense of community apart from the drug-heavy Los Angeles scene. And they weren’t the only ones: The era also gave rise to cults like the Manson Family, The Source Family, The Farm, The Peoples Temple, and the Hare Krishnas (in which George Harrison of The Beatles was deeply involved). Those decades were marked by such chaos, rapid change, and experimentation that it’s no wonder so many people felt lost, or perhaps simply drawn to alternative means of living. Unfortunately, in many of these cases, this yearning for community had devastating consequences.
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