Mick Fleetwood wants Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to reconcile

11 July 2024, 14:13

In a new interview, Mick Fleetwood has called for "healing" between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Picture: Getty

By Thomas Curtis-Horsfall

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It's been nearly 50 years since they joined the band.

At the tail end of 1974, Fleetwood Mac's trajectory was changed forever when they recruited guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks.

The then-couple were both romantically entwined and pursuing their own musical career as a duo cannily named Buckingham Nicks.

Founding members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie recognised their lineup needed refreshing, and they were right.

Nicks and Buckingham contributed vastly to Fleetwood Mac's period of global commercial success, especially with 1977 album Rumours which they created in the midst of personal turmoil, drug abuse, and various inter-band romantic entanglements.

The tumultuousness nature of Nicks' and Buckingham's working relationship continued over the course of the following decades too.

Both were ever-present until 1987 when Buckingham first quit, before Nicks' left in 1990. They both rejoined in 1997, before Buckingham was eventually fired in 2018.

In a new interview with Mojo magazine, Mick Fleetwood has called for "healing" between the two, though it might not result in a future Fleetwood Mac reunion.

Nicks and Buckingham joining Fleetwood Mac was crucial to their massive commercial success. (Photo by Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images). Picture: Getty

Discussing the former couple's current relationship, Fleetwood said: "It’s no secret, it’s no tittle-tattle that there is a brick wall there emotionally."

"Stevie’s able to speak clearly about how she feels and doesn’t feel, as does Lindsey," he continued.

"But I’ll say, personally, I would love to see a healing between them – and that doesn’t have to take the shape of a tour, necessarily."

Despite their frequent ups and downs since they first broke up in 1976 ahead of recording Rumours, Nicks and Buckingham have largely maintained an amicable professional relationship.

That was until 2018 when Lindsey Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac, which opened old wounds for the two.

At the time, Buckingham told People magazine his firing was "all Stevie's doing" and that she "basically gave the band an ultimatum that either I had to go or she would go".

After his departure, the guitarist was replaced by Crowded House's Neil Finn and Mike Campbell, a former member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Lindsey Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac in 2018. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images). Picture: Getty

Even if Stevie and Lindsey do manage to reconcile - no matter how unlikely that may be - it's doubtful Fleetwood Mac would reunite for a tour.

Recently Nicks poured cold water on a potential Fleetwood Mac reunion, saying there was "no reason to" after the death of Christine McVie.

"When Christine died, I felt like you can’t replace her. You just can’t," she said in an interview with Vulture.

"Without her, what is it? You know what I mean? She was like my soul mate, my musical soul mate, and my best friend that I spent more time with than any of my other best friends outside of Fleetwood Mac. Christine was my best friend."