Fleetwood Mac & Lindsey Buckingham (Updates)

What kind of crazy mixed-up world do we live in when Lindsey Buckingham is fired by Fleetwood Mac?

Buckingham was the architect of the sound that made Fleetwood Mac so popular starting in 1975.  After all the success producing their songs, being one of three songwriters & lead vocalists, and playing lead guitar, he quit the group in 1987.   He was replaced by two musicians, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

Then after 10 years, he rejoined Fleetwood Mac for their 1997 reunion, “The Dance”.  The group has toured on and off since then, including 16 years (1998-2014) without Christine McVie.

(Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks)

This month, after disagreements about an upcoming tour, Fleetwood Mac told Buckingham “Go Your Own Way”, and replaced him with The Heartbreaker’s lead guitarist, Mike Campbell, and Crowded House leader Neil Finn.  Those are two extremely talented musicians who could actually add some new touches to Fleetwood Mac.  Notice how it always takes two guys to replace Lindsey Buckingham.

Update 1:  Some quotes in Rolling Stone tell us more.

Mick Fleetwood said about the disagreement over the fall tour…“We arrived at the impasse of hitting a brick wall.  We made a decision that we could not go on with him.  Majority rules in terms of what we need to do as a band.“

Stevie Nicks said Buckingham wanted to put off the tour for a year, and the band didn’t want to wait.  Fleetwood Mac will be performing songs from the entire history of the band, including before Stevie and Lindsey joined.  Nicks said…“We were never able to do that since 1975, because certain people in the band weren’t interested in doing that.”  Nicks compared the situation to the ending of a long marriage.  “We were never married, but we might as well have been.  This is sad for me, but I want the next 10 years of my life to be really fun and happy.”

Above, Fleetwood Mac with Neil Finn & Mike Campbell.  They plan to play some old Fleetwood Mac songs on the tour.   Note: They played “Black Magic Woman”, “Oh Well” (Mike Campbell vocal) and “Hypnotized” (Neil Finn vocal)…plus Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Neil Finn’s Crowded House.

I’m a fan of Lindsey Buckingham, and own most of his albums.  1992’s Out Of The Cradle is far and away his best album.  His new collection has 9 songs from that album.

(Lindsey Buckingham released Solo Anthology: The Best Of Lindsey Buckingham in October, 2018.  The deluxe 53 song 3 CD set [2 studio, 1 live] is around $20, and the 21 song single CD version [disc 1 above] is about $10.)

We had tickets for his concert in a fairly small venue in Lincoln, Nebraska in the early 2000’s.  But, when we showed up to see him, we were informed he was not satisfied with the sound system, and had canceled the show.  He has a reputation for sometimes being difficult…although that might be an interpretation of his caring about doing things right.

So…now that Lindsey Buckingham is “Second Hand News”…will the new tour be a success for Fleetwood Mac?  Almost certainly, yes.  There’s plenty of star power with Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and the rest of this new line-up.  Their first performance will be at a September 21st festival in Las Vegas.  Then the 52 show tour starts October 3rd.  (Update 2:  Mac performed on TV 9/5/18, playing “The Chain” & “Gypsy”.  Neil Finn sounded great on vocals, and Mike Campbell really rocked lead guitar!  The whole group sounded energized.  Reviews of the tour have been very positive.)  Note:  The tour ended in November, 2019 after 80 performances.

As for Lindsey Buckingham…it seems a shame that the members of Fleetwood Mac had to “break the chain”.

Update 3:  Lindsey didn’t like the broken chain either.  As of October 2018, he is suing Fleetwood Mac for firing him, and is seeking an estimated 12-to-14-million dollars in lost income from the tour.

Update 4:  12/8/18…Lindsey Buckingham says he and Fleetwood Mac have settled his lawsuit.  In an interview with CBS, he said he’s satisfied with the outcome, but didn’t reveal details.  Buckingham also said during the interview that he heard Stevie Nicks had given a “him or me” choice to the rest of the band.  Buckingham said that even though it’s doubtful he’ll ever rejoin the band, he won’t say he’s “Never Going Back Again”.

Update 5:  2/8/19  Now we find out that last week Lindsey Buckingham (69) had emergency open heart surgery!  His family says he’s doing fine now, but there’s concern his vocal cords may have been damaged during the procedure.  Time will tell.  Meanwhile all scheduled appearances are cancelled.  On social media, Fleetwood Mac said…”Our thoughts and love go out to Lindsey and his entire family.  We are hopeful for a speedy recovery.”

Update 6:  In August of 2020, Lindsey demonstrated publicly that his voice has returned to normal.  Great news!

Update 7:  (Jan. 2021)  Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood have all sold much of their rights (songwriting and future royalties on their recordings) to three different companies.

Update 8: (Feb. 2021)  In an interview with BBC radio, Christine McVee said it’s unlikely Fleetwood Mac will tour again…”Certainly not this year.”  She said she thinks the only member of the band who would be wanting to tour again would be Mick Fleetwood.

Update 9: (March 2021)  Mick Fleetwood told Rolling Stone that he is in favor of doing a farewell tour.  He says he has rekindled his friendship with Lindsey Buckingham, and would like to get some form of Fleetwood Mac back together for one final tour.

Update 10: (June 2021)  Lindsey Buckingham released a new self-titled solo album on September 17th, 2021.  Singles from the album include ”I Don’t Mind” and “Scream”.  He’s also doing a tour to support the album.

Update 11:  (Sept. 2021). Here’s a link to a new article with an update that’s too long to add to this article:   https://ontherecords.net/2021/09/fleetwood-mac-attack/

Update (11/30/22):  Sadly, Christine McVie has passed away at the age of 79.  Her family said she died in a hospital after a short illness.  Recently, she had been opening up about her experience in Fleetwood Mac, and how much she enjoyed that time.