As the founder of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Green's songs, such as "Albatross", "Black Magic Woman", "Oh Well", "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and "Man of the World", appeared on singles charts, and several have been adapted by a variety of musicians.
Green was a major figure in the "second great epoch" of the British blues movement. B.B. King commented, "He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats."
In October 1965, Green had the opportunity to fill in for Eric Clapton in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for four gigs. Soon afterwards, when Clapton left the Bluesbreakers, Green became a full-time member of Mayall's band from July 1966.
Green's next band, with former Bluesbreaker Mick Fleetwood on drums and Jeremy Spencer on guitar, was initially called "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer". This group went on to become the dominant force in music known as Fleetwod Mac. Although classic blues covers and blues-styled originals remained prominent in the band's repertoire through its early period, Green rapidly blossomed as a songwriter and contributed many successful original compositions from 1968 onwards. Green's days with this lineup were numbered, after a final performance on 20 May 1970, Green left Fleetwood Mac.
Green played with many bands over the next years including reuniting with John Mayall as well as playing with individual former members of his bands.
Peter struggled with schizophrenia and spent time in psychiatric hospitals undergoing electroconvulsive therapy during the mid-1970s. In 1979, Green began to re-emerge professionally. With the help of his brother Michael, he produced a string of solo albums starting with 1979's In the Skies. He also made an uncredited appearance on Fleetwood Mac's double album Tusk, on the song "Brown Eyes", released the same year.
Green formed the Peter Green Splinter Group in the late 1990s, with the assistance of Nigel Watson and Cozy Powell. The Splinter Group released nine albums between 1997 and 2004.
On 25 July 2020, Green died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 73.