Stevie Nicks once again reiterated that she has no regrets about cutting ties with Lindsey Buckingham, telling Rolling Stone that she gave her former bandmate and lover “more than 300 million chances.”
The Fleetwood Mac star said she last touched base with Buckingham in 2023 at late bandmate Christine McVie‘s celebration of life, and their brief exchange was enough to reinforce her feelings.
“Christine threw down a hurricane on top of Nobu, which is where we had it,” Nicks said of the celebration. “Almost blew the whole place away, honest to God. Tore down the entire deck that was all decorated and everything. So it was kind of crazy. We all felt like she was there, because it was really intense. The only time I’ve spoken to Lindsey was there, for about three minutes. I dealt with Lindsey for as long as I could. You could not say that I did not give him more than 300 million chances.”
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Buckingham’s second tenure with Fleetwood Mac ended in 2018 after his relationship with Nicks deteriorated beyond repair, leading to a lawsuit that was later settled. The band replaced him with Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House. Despite their years of seemingly endless feuding, Nicks told Rolling Stone that she’s happy with how and when she and Buckingham ended their working relationship.
“I think that all just happened the way it should have,” she said. “It happened one night, not planned, at a MusiCares [benefit concert]. I didn’t even tell anybody it had happened in my head until the whole ceremony was over. I took with me that night a song that I had done with LeAnn Rimes called ‘Borrowed.’ I took it with me to play for him because I thought we could do this song beautifully.
“That’s when he wasn’t very nice to anybody; he wasn’t very nice to Harry Styles,” she continued. “I could hear my mom saying, ‘Are you really going to spend the next 15 years of your life with this man?’ I could hear my very pragmatic father — and by the way, my mom and dad liked Lindsey a lot — saying, ‘It’s time for you guys to get a divorce.’ Between those two, I said, ‘I’m done.'”
Stevie Nicks Rules Out Fleetwood Mac Reunion (Again), Wishes Lindsey Buckingham Well
Nicks once again ruled out a Fleetwood Mac reunion or farewell tour, answering the question with a simple “no.” (She said earlier this year that “without Christine, no can do.”) She also drew a distinction between the end of Fleetwood Mac and the famously contentious Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, whose Graham Nash said he wished the band had done more together prior to Crosby’s death in 2023.
“Well, and that’s true, but they never played near as much as we did,” Nicks said. “We had lots and lots of time, and lots and lots of tours that could have been the reconciliation tour and ‘now we’re going to quit’ tour. So, I just felt that Christine and I had done everything we could do to make it a happy place. And it wasn’t a happy place anymore.”
Despite their well-documented friction, Nicks said she wishes Buckingham the best in his solo ventures. “I hope he lives a long life and continues to go into a studio and work with other people,” she said. “He’s also an icon, and he can teach people. He’s not stopped in his tracks. He can still make music and have fun.”
Fleetwood Mac Albums Ranked
It’s easy to focus on Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks when considering a list of Fleetwood Mac albums, but the band’s legacy extends well beyond that.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso