Mick Fleetwood calls for a 'healing' between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks
"And if you don't love me now, you will never love me again..."
It's been several years since Fleetwood Mac asked Lindsey Buckingham to go his own way...but now, band leader Mick Fleetwood wants to see Buckingham and Stevie Nicks make up.
"It’s no secret, it’s no title-tattle that there is a brick wall there emotionally,” Fleetwood told MOJO of the impasse between the former band members (and one-time romantic partners). “Stevie’s able to speak clearly about how she feels and doesn’t feel, as does Lindsey. 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."
Nicks and Buckingham have long had a tempestuous relationship. The two joined Fleetwood Mac as a couple in 1975, but it was their break-up (as well as that of other members of the group) that would shoot them to super-stardom as they used their romantic angst to write 1977 hit record, Rumours.
Related: Lindsey Buckingham breaks down 10 of his best guitar riffs
Over the years, Buckingham and Nicks have taken time away from Fleetwood Mac at various junctures, only to eventually return. Buckingham left the group again in 2018, reportedly after Nicks gave the rest of the band an ultimatum — either he or she would go. Nicks has pushed back against this characterization of events, saying, "To be exceedingly clear, I did not have him fired, I did not ask for him to be fired, I did not demand he be fired. Frankly, I fired myself."
Buckingham later filed a lawsuit against Fleetwood Mac for breach of fiduciary duty, which was settled out of court.
The band went on a 2019 tour, with support from Neil Finn and Mike Campbell in place of Buckingham. When the COVID-19 pandemic put their plans on pause, Fleetwood still intended for the band to hit the road again when conditions improved.
Related: Stevie Nicks shoots back at Lindsey Buckingham about Fleetwood Mac split: 'I did not have him fired'
"There was a full intention, without waiting too long, that we’d go and pick things back up,” Fleetwood said. “That we’d play stadiums, big shows and festivals… and then at that point it was heading towards us saying goodbye.”
Back in 2021, Buckingham told Entertainment Weekly that Fleetwood had hinted that he wanted to bring him back into the fold. "There have been intimations from Mick, who I've talked to several times, that he wants to try to get the five of us back together," Buckingham said. "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 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."
But any hopes of a reunion seemingly evaporated with the 2022 death of band member Christine McVie. Fleetwood himself previously told the Los Angeles Times that without McVie, he didn't see much point in continuing. "I think right now, I truly think the line in the sand has been drawn with the loss of Chris," he said. "I'd say we're done, but then we've all said that before. It's sort of unthinkable right now."
Nicks has expressed similar sentiments. "When she died, I figured we really can’t go any further with this," she said. "There’s no reason to." (It must be noted that McVie left the band for a time in the early 2000s, and Fleetwood Mac released a 2003 album and toured without her at various points from 2004 to 2013).
Still, Nicks reiterated her feelings in a recent interview with MOJO, saying, "Without Christine, no can do. There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn’t work.”
She also questioned Buckingham's ability to endure the challenges of a lengthy Fleetwood Mac tour, saying, "Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problems. It’s not for me to say, but I’m not sure if Lindsey could do the kind of touring that Fleetwood Mac does, where you go out for a year and half. It’s so demanding.”
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For his part, though he'd like to see Nicks and Buckingham find a way to put aside their differences, Fleetwood isn't counting on getting the band back together (though he'd certainly be up for it if the moment presented itself). “It’s been a strange time for me,” he concluded. “Losing sweet Christine was catastrophic. And then, in my world, sort of losing the band too. And I [split] with my partner as well. I just found myself sort of licking my wounds."
EW has reached out to representatives for Buckingham and Nicks for comment.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
