Stevie Nicks says she gave Lindsey Buckingham '300 million chances' before Fleetwood Mac fired him

29 October 2024, 10:59

They were a band that was defined by their stormy relationships.

In many ways, their frequent ups-and-downs including drug addiction and inter-band infidelity contributed to Fleetwood Mac's international success.

That's because all of the behind-the-scenes drama poured into their stellar 1977 album Rumours.

It was an album that established Fleetwood Mac as a new force in soft rock, one that would achieve chart success for years to come.

Fans of the band will already be aware that one of the key relationships behind the band was between former partners Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

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Initially joining the band as a couple, they split and remained (fairly) amicable as Fleetwood Mac sailed towards global success.

After 40 years, however, the strain on the pair's relationship became too much, with the band eventually sacking Buckingham and replacing him with Crowded House's Neil Finn.

Now in a brand new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Stevie Nicks has revealed she gave Lindsey "300 million chances" before the group took drastic measures.

In the rare interview, Stevie revealed that the last contact she had with Buckingham was at late former bandmate Christine McVie's funeral in 2023.

"Christine threw down a hurricane on top of Nobu, which is where we had it," Nicks recalled.

"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."

Nicks now feels at peace with the way the situation was handled, admitting: "I think that all just happened the way it should have."

Lindsey Buckingham opens up about Fleetwood Mac firing

"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," she continued.

"That’s when he wasn’t very nice to anybody; he wasn’t very nice to Harry Styles," the pop superstar who recently joined Stevie for a duet of her classic 'Landslide'.

"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'."

Years on from the split, and with Fleetwood Mac now defunct after the death of Christine, Nicks holds no animosity towards Lindsey.

"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."

Before the pair joined Fleetwood Mac, they made a one-off album under the moniker Buckingham Nicks in 1973 which sold poorly, and hasn't been re-issued despite their successes since.

Recently Buckingham said if the chance came to re-join Fleetwood Mac he'd take it "in a heart-beat", though Nicks poured cold water on a reunion saying it wouldn't happen without Christine McVie.

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