Stevie Nicks opens up about why Lindsey Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac: “He wasn’t very nice to anybody; he wasn’t very nice to Harry Styles”
Stevie Nicks has opened up on Lindsey Buckingham’s firing from Fleetwood Mac in 2018.
Originally, it was reported that the band broke down over “a disagreement over the band’s upcoming tour”, but it was later revealed that it was Buckingham’s tumultuous relationship with former girlfriend Nicks that finally came between them.
Buckingham was replaced by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.
Speaking in a rare, lengthy new interview with Rolling Stone, Nicks – who has been touring extensively as a solo artist over the last few years – revisits the moment she finally knew she no longer wanted to be in a band with the guitarist, following decades working together after joining as a pair in 1974.
Recalling the last time she saw Buckingham in person, she notes how they shared a short conversation together at Christine McVie’s funeral in 2023.
“Christine threw down a hurricane on top of Nobu, which is where we had it,” Nicks recalls. “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.”
When questioned as to whether she regrets not cutting-ties with him sooner, she answers: “I think that all just happened the way it should have”, adding, “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.”
Detailing what offended her about Buckingham during the charity event, she reveals, “That’s when he wasn’t very nice to anybody; he wasn’t very nice to Harry Styles.
“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.’”
In spite of her ill-feelings towards Buckingham, Nicks is at peace with her decision, and wishes him well. “I hope he lives a long life and continues to go into a studio and work with other people,” she says. “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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Nicks affirms that Fleetwood Mac have no plans to reunite in the future. “There is no more Fleetwood Mac now”, she says, “because when Christine [McVie] died, Fleetwood Mac died. We cannot replace her.”
Speaking of her tight bond with the late keyboardist/songwriter, Nicks continues: “This was my music soulmate, my best girlfriend. We kept that band afloat, the two of us, by keeping the peace, no matter what.
“We were the keepers of Fleetwood Mac, and that is why we cannot replace her. We did replace Lindsey two times, and it was OK. No fighting, super fun. But Christine was different.”
