Rumours is the 1977 album by Fleetwood Mac, recorded in California while band members were splitting up and struggling with heavy drug use. The emotional strain shaped its lyrics, which are about broken relationships and often painfully personal. The band aimed for a polished pop record that would follow up their earlier success, and it combined electric and acoustic instruments with three singers' vocal harmonies. It topped the UK and US charts, and all four of its singles reached the US top 10, with Dreams hitting number one. It won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammy Awards and has sold over 40 million copies.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.