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"The Chain"
Song by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Rumours
Released	February 4, 1977
Recorded	1976
Genre	Rock
Length	4:28
Label	Warner Bros. Records
Composer(s)	Lindsay Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks.
Producer(s)	Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat & Richard Dashut

"The Chain" is a song from Fleetwood Mac's best-selling album Rumours. "The Chain" is unique in being the only song written by all five members of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac lineup: Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks; this is partly due to the fact that John McVie and Fleetwood are generally not songwriters. The band has used the song as a signature, citing the lyric, "Never break the chain."

According to interviews on the writing of Rumors, the final section of "The Chain" — beginning with a bass progression — was created by John McVie and Fleetwood. It seemed like an ending, not a beginning. Stevie Nicks had written the vocals separately and thought they would be a good match; she and Christine McVie did some reworking to create the first section of the tune. Lindsey Buckingham then created the guitar riff at the beginning.

• In 1992, Warner Bros released a 4-CD Fleetwood Mac retrospective boxed set titled 25 Years - The Chain.

• In 1997, Fleetwood Mac released a live concert CD/DVD package called The Dance, which featured the reunion of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac members. The rendition of "The Chain" reached number 30 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

• In 2002, Warner Bros. released the 2-CD set The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, including "The Chain".

• "The Chain" was also used as the theme song for the BBC's Formula 1 coverage (the programme was called Grand Prix) from 1978 to 1996.

• This song was the opening song sung on the December 2, 2006 edition of CMT's Crossroads featuring former Fleetwood Mac band member Buckingham and country music group Little Big Town.