Michael John Kells Fleetwood was born in Redruth, second child to John Joseph Kells Fleetwood and Bridget Maureen (nee Brereton) Fleetwood. His elder sister Susan Fleetwood, who died of cancer in 1995, became an actress. In early childhood Fleetwood and his family followed his father, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot, to Egypt. After about six years, they moved to Norway where his father was posted on a NATO deployment.

Fleetwood was a self-taught drummer from his early childhood, after moving from a lacklustre academic performance at school to a love of music encouraged by his family, who bought him his first drum kit. His first years were heavily influenced by Tony Meehan and the Everly Brothers, and during his formative years in London during the late 1960s, Green helped Fleetwood through bouts of "rhythmic dyslexia" during live performances when Fleetwood panicked and lost the beat. He often sang filled pauses along to songs to help keep the beat. Green also instilled in Fleetwood an ability to follow and predict the lead guitarist, enabling him to meet the guitar with the drum rhythm as well as allowing him to know a good guitarist when he saw one - which would in part lead him later in his career to select Lindsey Buckingham.  Bob Brunning recalled from his early involvement with Fleetwood Mac that Fleetwood was "very open to playing with different people as long as he didn't have to change his style. He was, and is, a completely straightforward drummer, and it works with a lot of different styles. I don't s'pose [sic] he's played a traditional drum solo in his life!" Biographer Carroll highlights this ability as integral to the success of Fleetwood Mac, arguing that Fleetwood was not a virtuoso, but his disciplined and in-distractable manner of play allowed him to hold together a band of strong leading personalities without impinging upon their expression.  Caillat, in contrast, cites Fleetwood as "still one of the most amazing drummers I've ever met. He had his rack of tom drums arranged back to front. Most drummers place them from high to low (in pitch) from their left to right, but Mick chose to place his mid, high, low. I think perhaps this helped him develop his unique style. He hit his drums very hard, except for his kick drum. For some reason, when he played his high hat, it distracted him. He would keep perfect beat with his kick, but he played it so softly that we could hear his mouth noises through his kick mic." Answer this question using a quote from the following article:

What happened in the 1960s?
Green helped Fleetwood through bouts of "rhythmic dyslexia" during live performances