When Fleetwood Mac lost Jeremy Spencer to a Cult

Rockapedia, 2026

Fleetwood Mac’s history is full of wild twists, but few chapters are strange, or more unsettling, than the sudden disappearance of guitarist Jeremy Spencer in 1971. At the time, the band were in San Francisco, and both Spencer and fellow guitarist Danny Kirwan decided to take mescaline, a naturally occurring psychedelic. What was supposed to be a temporary trip seemed to hit Spencer especially hard. According to those around him, he didn’t quite come back down. He became deeply fixated on the Bible, grew increasingly detached from the band, and had to be coaxed just to get onstage that night.

Things only got stranger when the band’s next stop was Los Angeles. An earthquake in the area delayed their arrival, and the news sent Spencer into a spiral. He became convinced that something terrible was waiting for them in L.A. He kept warning the others that the city was full of evil and that disaster was coming. Eventually, the band managed to calm him down, promising they’d just play the show and get out.

When they finally arrived in Los Angeles, Spencer seemed more relaxed. He was sharing a room with Mick Fleetwood, and the two chatted and joked like everything was back to normal. Then Spencer mentioned he was heading out for a quick walk to check out a bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard. He told Fleetwood he’d be right back.

He never returned.

With showtime approaching and no sign of their lead guitarist, Fleetwood Mac were forced to cancel the gig. The band searched for Spencer at the bookstore, but no one there had seen him. By the next morning, they went to the police and started asking questions about the Christian street groups and cult-like organizations known to recruit on Hollywood Boulevard.

The band plastered the city with flyers, got his photo on the news, and even worked with local churches who pointed them toward more extreme religious groups operating in the area. They followed leads to places like the San Fernando Valley, but every knock on the door came up empty.

After four days, a tip finally came in: Jeremy Spencer could be found at a warehouse in downtown L.A. run by a group called The Children of God. Manager Clifford Davis managed to talk his way inside by claiming Spencer’s wife was seriously ill.

What he found was shocking.

Spencer had shaved his long hair down to his scalp, was wearing dirty clothes, and would only answer to the name Jonathan. Davis tried to convince him to leave, but Spencer refused. He believed the earthquake was a sign of the end times and that he had been called to give his life to Jesus. When asked about his family, Spencer reportedly said, Jesus will take care of them.

Spencer soon flew to Texas, where his wife Fiona and their son joined him to live with the group. Their younger son stayed behind with Fiona’s mother. Jeremy became deeply involved, working as a recruiter and traveling to different branches of the organization.

For decades, Spencer remained tied to the group, especially through music, leading and recording religious material as part of their ministry. Despite everything, he stayed in touch with Fleetwood Mac over the years and even said he prayed for their success, later commenting that the Buckingham-Nicks lineup had hit on something good.

The darker side of this story became clearer with time. As early as 1974, the New York Attorney General’s Office officially labeled The Children of God a cult. British courts later ruled it was an authoritarian cult that engaged in systemic child abuse. The group rebranded multiple times to escape legal trouble and public backlash.

Perhaps most disturbingly, a number of well-known figures, including Joaquin Phoenix and Rose McGowan, were born into or raised within the group before their families eventually escaped.

It’s a haunting chapter in rock history: a reminder that the ’70s counterculture scene wasn’t just about free love and great music — it also intersected with darker, more dangerous movements that could swallow people whole.