Lindsey Buckingham has had an incredibly eventful past four years full of ups and downs. In 2019, he underwent emergency open heart that resulted in vocal cord damage. Just today (October 3), he canceled his remaining European tour dates due to “ongoing health issues.” (In May, he postponed his European tour due to issues stemming from recovering from a bout with COVID-19.)
However, the biggest part of his life that has played out the most in the press has been his firing from Fleetwood Mac back in 2018. As with most things related to Fleetwood Mac, plenty has been said and much drama unfolded.
To catch yourself up, scroll below for a complete timeline of Buckingham’s dramatic exit from Fleetwood Mac.
April 2018: Lindsey Buckingham is Fired from Fleetwood Mac
When news broke of Buckingham being fired from Fleetwood Mac, there were conflicting reports. Variety reported he left the band, while Rolling Stone reported Buckingham was fired due to a “disagreement over the band’s upcoming tour.” Buckingham was replaced on Fleetwood Mac’s tour with Crowded House singer Neil Finn and Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell.
May 2018: Buckingham Addresses His Exit from Fleetwood Mac
Buckingham was performing at a campaign fundraiser for California Democratic congressional candidate Mike Levin, and during his set, he touched on his exit saying it “was not something that was really my doing or my choice.”
He would go on to say that “there were factions within the band that had lost their perspective.” After that line of dialogue, someone in the crowd then yelled, “F*ck Stevie Nicks!”, which Buckingham responded, “Well, it doesn’t really matter. The point is that they’d lost their perspective, and what that did was to harm – and this is the only thing I’m really sad about, the rest of it becomes an opportunity – it harmed the 43-year legacy that we had worked so hard to build.”October 10, 2018: Buckingham Shares How He Got Fired from Fleetwood Mac
Buckingham gave an interview to Rolling Stone where he broke down how he got fired from Fleetwood Mac. Long story short: Stevie Nicks allegedly wasn’t a fan of his behavior when the band was honored at a MusiCares benefit in January, which led to a “him or me” ultimatum to the rest of the band. Manager Irving Azoff phoned Buckingham about this development to say Nicks had a problem with his “outburst just before the band’s set over the intro music — the studio recording of Nicks’ “Rhiannon” — and the way he “smirked” during Nicks’ thank-you speech.”
Of these moments, Buckingham said, “It wasn’t about it being ‘Rhiannon.’ It just undermined the impact of our entrance. That’s me being very specific about the right and wrong way to do something…The irony is that we have this standing joke that Stevie, when she talks, goes on a long time. I may or may not have smirked. But I look over and Christine and Mick are doing the waltz behind her as a joke.”
Buckingham then wrote an email to Mick Fleetwood after this phone call with Azoff under the impression Nicks was leaving the group, but when he didn’t get a response, Buckingham called Azoff back and said, “‘This feels funny. Is Stevie leaving the band, or am I getting kicked out?’” It was then Buckingham learned of Nicks’ ultimatum.
October 11, 2018: Buckingham sues Fleetwood Mac
In Buckingham’s lawsuit, he sued his former bandmates for “breach of fiduciary duty and breach of oral contract” and is petitioning for a cut of the band’s current tour revenue “because he is able and willing to perform on the tour and is being involuntarily excluded.”
In response to the lawsuit, Fleetwood Mac’s spokesperson Kristen Foster said in a statement, “Fleetwood Mac looks forward to their day in court.”December 2018: Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac Settle Lawsuit
Buckingham revealed the news during an interview on CBS’ This Morning where he said, “We’ve all signed off on something. I’m happy enough with it. I’m not out there trying to twist the knife at all. I’m trying to look at this with some level of compassion, some level of wisdom.”
March 2019: Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie say Fleetwood Mac Faced a Breakup in Buckingham didn’t leave
Fleetwood and McVie discussed the Buckingham drama in an interview with Mojo. Fleetwood said Buckingham wasn’t fired, but “…a parting of company took place, and it had to take place, and it was supported by the remaining band members around something that for sure was a major problem to two people.”
McVie added, “It was the only route we could take, because there was too much animosity between certain members of the band at that point, there was just no way it could’ve gone on as a five-piece, a group with Lindsey in the band. So it was either just completely break up the band or make the best of it.”January 2020: Fleetwood Says Reunion with Buckingham Unlikely
Fleetwood tells Rolling Stone when asked if there was any scenario where Buckingham would ever rejoin the band, “No. Fleetwood Mac is a strange creature. We’re very, very committed to Neil and Mike, and that passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left. And it’s not a point of conversation, so I have to say no. It’s a full drama of Fleetwood Mac, no doubt. His legacy is alive and well, and as it should be. A major, major part that will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us. Neil and Mike have tremendous respect for Lindsey. The situation was no secret. We were not happy. It was not working, and we parted company. And that really is the all of it.”
October 2020: Stevie Nicks Breaks Silene About Buckingham’s Firing
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nicks says of Buckingham’s firing, “I never planned for that to happen. Any time we re-formed to do a tour or a record, I always walked in with hope in my heart. And I just was so disappointed. I felt like all the wind had gone out of my sails.”
The Los Angeles Times noted of the aforementioned MusiCares event, “Nicks is reluctant to discuss the details of that night, though she admits it was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back.'”Nicks added, “I just felt like a dying flower all the time. I stayed with him from 1968 until that night. It’s a long time. And I really could hear my parents — I could hear my mom saying, ‘Are you really gonna do this for the rest of your life?’ And I could hear my dad saying in his very pragmatic way — because my dad really liked Lindsey —‘I think it’s time for you and Lindsey to get a divorce.’ It’s a very unfortunate thing. It makes me very, very sad.”
March 2021: Fleetwood Reconnects with Buckingham, Says He’s Open to a Reunion
Fleetwood tells Rolling Stone, “I’ve really enjoyed being reconnected with Lindsey, which has been gracious and open, and both of us have been beautifully honest about who we are and how we got to where we were.”
Rolling Stone notes Fleetwood got back in touch with Buckingham after not speaking for two years. A big catalyst for them talking again was the death of Fleetwood Mac founding guitarist Peter Green, who died in July 2020 at the age of 73.
Fleetwood also mentioned that he’s thinking about a potential farewell tour. He said, “I’m very aware that we’ve never played that card. I think the vision for me, and I think it would be hugely appropriate, is that we actually say ‘this is goodbye’ and go out and actually do that. That has always been my vision and I’m a flatly confident that we can do that. We owe it to the fans.”
As for Buckingham being involved, he said, “Strange things can happen.”July 2021: Buckingham Hints At Returning to Fleetwood Mac
Buckingham said in an appearance on the WTF With Marc Maron Podcast, “It’s my sense that pretty much everyone would love to see me come back.” He also said of getting fired, “What was most disappointing about it [his firing] to me was not, ‘Oh, I’m not gonna get to do this tour.’ What it was [is] again, we spent 43 years building this legacy which was about rising above things – it stood for more than the music.”
August 2021: Buckingham Says Fleetwood Wants Him Back In Fleetwood Mac
Buckingham says in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “There have been intimations from Mick [Fleetwood], who I’ve talked to several times, that he wants to try to get the five of us back together. I did not see their last tour. I’m sure it was fine, but I think it was probably very mellow by comparison.”
Buckingham continued, “…They were covering so much other Fleetwood Mac material, and they were doing Crowded House songs and Tom Petty songs [since Neil Finn and Mike Campbell joined the band.] So, I wasn’t sure how that was going to pan out, and I wasn’t sure how Mick ultimately felt about it either, but that was the politics of the situation that led to that.”
Buckingham would add, “Mick — he didn’t want to see me go in the first place — but he’s talking about that. I would never hang my hat on that. It’s really going to take Stevie [Nicks] coming to that point of view, and I haven’t spoken to Stevie in a long, long time, so I don’t know where that’s at. It’s certainly something that more than one person who is close to the situation has brought to me.
