Fleetwood Mac is waging a dicey bet that its beloved hit songs are more popular than its most vital member.

Fleetwood Mac's split with Lindsey Buckingham could be band's most damaging

By Timothy Finn
The Kansas City Star

Fleetwood Mac is waging a dicey bet that its beloved hit songs are more popular than its most vital member.

When the band hits the road later this year, Lindsey Buckingham will not be present. On Monday, Fleetwood Mac bomb-shelled the music world by announcing it had parted ways with Buckingham, arguably the band’s centerpiece for the past 40-plus years. It wasn’t explicitly clear if Buckingham quit or was fired (although the consensus was that Buckingham was given his walking papers).

In his place, the band hired Mike Campbell, guitarist for Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn, instrumentalist and vocalist for Crowded House, Split Enz and the Finn Brothers.

We’ve witnessed this scenario before with Fleetwood Mac. In 1987, Buckingham left the band (creative differences) and was replaced by sidemen Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. He returned 10 years later, for a reunion tour, and remained with the band until this week.

And even before Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band in 1975, Fleetwood Mac went through several significant departures, including Jeremy Spencer, Peter Green and Bob Welch.

This puts Fleetwood Mac among a growing group of classic-rock bands touring with replacement members. The Eagles just visited the Sprint Center with their latest lineup, which includes only one founding member, Don Henley.

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks might be the most famous star-crossed lovers since Romeo and Juliet

Lindsey Buckingham, formerly of Fleetwood Mac: Rock’s biggest jerk or misunderstood genius?

By Travis M. Andrews
The Washington Post

It’s rare for Fleetwood Mac — a rock band formed in 1967 — to garner headlines in 2018. Still, the band was in the news not once but twice in as many weeks. Monday’s news that Lindsey Buckingham reportedly has been fired shook the rock community, earning eulogies and angry quips on Twitter.

There’s little question that the iconic band is losing a visionary musician (again) in Buckingham. But during a time when pop culture is reexamining its heroes, it’s important to remember that the guitarist and songwriter’s personal reputation is littered with allegations of controlling, belittling and even abusive behavior.

Rock-and-roll is often steeped in mythology, so, like any stories about the genre, it comes down to whom you choose to believe: the camp that believes he’s a misunderstood genius or the camp that believes he’s rock-and-roll’s premier jerk.

Many of the stories concerning Buckingham come from former romantic partners.

Full article at The Washington Post

Mike Campbell Statement on Joining Fleetwood Mac

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"Though I was sad to hear Lindsey Buckingham is no longer with Fleetwood Mac, I am honored and excited to join the band. Lindsey is one of my favorite musical artists. A true genius at songwriting and guitar playing. I intend to honor his songs while at the same time bring my musicality to the band. After one rehearsal I can tell it’s going to be an amazing collaboration. I am also very happy to have an opportunity to play with Neil Finn, who I greatly admire. Fleetwood Mac not only has one of the greatest rhythm sections in rock history, it also has two of the finest voices and songwriters in Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. I am looking forward to the tour with great anticipation."

Fleetwood Mac Fires Lindsey Buckingham over a disagreement with upcoming tour

Fleetwood Mac Fires Lindsey Buckingham
Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House to replace departing guitarist
By Andy Greene
Rollingstone

Fleetwood Mac has fired Lindsey Buckingham after a disagreement over the band's upcoming tour, Rolling Stone has confirmed. The band announced Monday that Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House will replace him.

News of Buckingham's departure initially broke when former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette shared an April 4th tweet that has since been deleted, saying: "Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out but I'm not in." Rolling Stone has confirmed Buckingham's departure, though no specific tour dates have been announced.

Fleetwood Mac issued a collective statement about the news, saying: "We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs. Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour."

Mick Fleetwood added, 

"Fleetwood Mac has always been about an amazing collection of songs that are performed with a unique blend of talents ... We jammed with Mike and Neil and the chemistry really worked and let the band realize that this is the right combination to go forward with in Fleetwood Mac style. We know we have something new, yet it’s got the unmistakable Mac sound."

"Two weeks ago, I received a wonderful invitation to be a part of a truly great band," Finn tells Rolling Stone in a statement. "A few days later, I was standing in a room playing music with Fleetwood Mac. It felt fresh and exciting, so many great songs, a spectacular rhythm section and two of the greatest voices ever. Best of all, we sounded good together. It was a natural fit. I can’t wait to play."

Was Lindsey Buckingham Fired From Fleetwood Mac or Not?

Was Lindsey Buckingham Fired From Fleetwood Mac or Not? A Source Weighs In
by Jem Aswad
Variety

Lindsey Buckingham’s latest departure from Fleetwood Mac certainly upheld the group’s longstanding penchant for drama.

No sooner had Variety confirmed that he’d left the band than word came, literally minutes later, that they’d already replaced him — with longtime Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn. The confirmation sealed several days of speculation after Billy Burnette — one of two guitarists hired to replace Buckingham last time he left the band 31 years ago — wrote in a hastily deleted tweet on April 4: “Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out but I’m not in. A little pissed off but I’ll get over it.”

While sources told both Variety and Rolling Stone that Buckingham was fired, a source close to the situation says it’s a matter of semantics that requires some backstory.

Full article at Variety

5 Lingering Questions From Fleetwood Mac's Split With Lindsey Buckingham

by Melinda Newman

Billboard

When Fleetwood Mac announced Monday (April 9) that the legendary band had replaced guitarist Lindsey Buckingham with Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell for its upcoming tour, its statement brought up more questions than it answered.

Here are a few of those lingering questions:

What went south? 

Why Mike Campbell and Neil Finn? 

When did this all go down?

What does this mean for the setlist?

What’s next?

Check out Billboard Magazine

Broken Chain: A History of Fleetwood Mac Firings and Departures
Lindsey Buckingham's firing is just the latest in a decades-long game of musical chairs for the Hall of Fame band
By Andy Greene
Rollingstone

Over its 50-year history, Fleetwood Mac has seen just about as many people come and go as the Harlem Globetrotters. Drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie have been there from the start – the group's moniker is a combination of their last names – but they've had a hell of a time holding onto guitarists and singers. The latest stunning development is the firing of Lindsey Buckingham and the addition of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn as touring members. Here's a guide to the rotating crew of musicians have been come and gone from Fleetwood Mac over the decades (though we're skipping some fringe members so this doesn't become longer than Tusk).

Full article at Rollingstone

Neil Finn and Mike Campbell Replace Lindsey Buckingham

Fleetwood Mac to Tour With Neil Finn, Mike Campbell as Lindsey Buckingham’s Replacements
by Jem Aswad
Variety

Shortly after Variety confirmed that Lindsey Buckingham has been fired by Fleetwood Mac, the group announced plans to tour this Fall with two new members: Mike Campbell longtime lead guitarist for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn will be joining the Mac for their upcoming tour, with final dates being confirmed shortly.

“Fleetwood Mac has always been about an amazing collection of songs that are performed with a unique blend of talents,” Mick Fleetwood said. “We jammed with Mike and Neil and the chemistry really worked and let the band realize that this is the right combination to go forward with in Fleetwood Mac style. We know we have something new, yet it’s got the unmistakable Mac sound.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs,” said the group collectively. “Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.”

In a statement, Neil Finn said: “Two weeks ago I received  a wonderful invitation to be a part of a truly great band. A few days later I was standing in a room playing

music with Fleetwood Mac. It felt  fresh and exciting, so many great songs, a spectacular rhythm section and two of the greatest voices ever. Best of all, we sounded good together. It was a natural fit. I can’t wait  to play.”

A source close to the situation tells Variety that Buckingham did not exit voluntarily — rather, says the insider, “He was fired” — although a source notes that the term may not quite fit the situation.

Lindsey Buckingham Fired by Fleetwood Mac

Lindsey Buckingham Fired by Fleetwood Mac
by Shirley Halperin
Variety

Lindsey Buckingham, guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire, has left the group Fleetwood Mac, Variety has confirmed. Buckingham has been a key member of Fleetwood Mac, playing with the band from from 1975 to 1987, then, after a decade-long break, returning to the fold in 1997. Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a year later.

News of the exit was first shared by guitarist Billy Burnette, who tweeted on April 4, “Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out but I’m not in.” The message was deleted a few hours after posting. Presumably, Burnette, who replaced Buckingham in the group from 1987 until it went on hiatus in 1995, was angling for a position in the band.

According to a source, Buckingham did not exit voluntarily, rather, says the insider, “He was fired.”

Buckingham was not a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, which formed in 1967, but was asked to join the group after the exit of Bob Welch in 1974. That incarnation of the band, which also included Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks, went on to release one of the most successful albums of its time, 1977’s “Rumours,” which has sold more than 40 million copies and yielded such classics as “Don’t Stop” and “Go Your Own Way,” the latter written by Buckingham alone, as well as “The Chain” and “You Make Loving Fun.”

As a solo artist, Buckingham has released six studio albums. Last year, he and Christine McVie teamed for a well-received collection of original songs under the banner Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie.

Fleetwood Mac is managed by CSM and Suretone Management and booked by CAA.

Why We Love It When Fleetwood Mac Keep Breaking Up

The band's firing of Lindsey Buckingham might be the most quintessential chapter yet in the band's epic saga of dysfunction
by Rob Sheffield
Rollingstone

Now this is Peak Mac. Could this happen to any other band? Fleetwood Mac, the crew that loves

breakup drama more than any other six or seven bands combined, topped their own standards on Monday, with the announcement that they'd fired Lindsey Buckingham. This split is more than one of the year's strangest headlines – it's a new dysfunctional chapter for the fivesome who wrote the book on packing up and shacking up. This is the most quintessential Fleetwood Mac move they've ever made. Any band can explode a time or three, but only these guys could break up continuously for 40 years, putting each other through untold agonies and then always coming back together for more punishment. The Mac is dead; long live the Mac.

If these were any other rock stars, you'd suspect them of staging a split so they can squeeze in one more tearful reunion tour before they hit their eighties – Coachella 2023, here they come. But if there's anything we know for sure about Fleetwood Mac, it's that they have no ability to control the torture they inflict on each other (or on us). They are the band destiny has doomed to suffer for our sins, acting out every couple's messiest secrets in public, reliving every stage of the pain cycle in a ritual repetition, like five Siddharthas of heartbreak. "Lightning strikes, maybe once, maybe twice"? They should be so lucky. Only these five gypsies could keep getting hit with the same lightning bolt over and over, electroshocking each other into eternity.

Full article at Rollingstone

Did he jump or was he pushed?

Why leaving Fleetwood Mac may be a smart move for Lindsey Buckingham

By MIKAEL WOOD - POP MUSIC CRITIC
LA Times

Did he jump or was he pushed?

In the matter of Lindsey Buckingham's departure from Fleetwood Mac, the answer isn't yet clear.

On Monday, the veteran rock band issued a statement announcing that Buckingham — the singer and guitarist with whom Fleetwood Mac made such genre-defining albums as "Rumours" and "Tango in the Night" — would not be performing with the group on its upcoming tour.

Rolling Stone said that Buckingham had been fired over a disagreement pertaining to the tour; Variety cited a source who said Buckingham's leaving was harder to classify. (A representative for the band said she wasn't authorized to speak on Buckingham's behalf.)

Either way, the speed with which the guy was replaced — on tour, Fleetwood Mac will be joined by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House — suggests that Buckingham's former bandmates weren't exactly tripping over themselves to keep him off the ledge.

So: Poor Lindsey, you might thinking.

Dude puts his own career on hold to team up with an unremarkable English blues-rock band, then quickly transforms that band into one of the world's most popular acts — and this is the thanks he gets?

But maybe stepping away from Fleetwood Mac, voluntarily or not, was actually a smart move for Buckingham, at least in a creative sense.

Anyone paying attention over the last few years could tell he didn't seem to be having much fun with the group he'd been with (on and off) since the mid-1970s, when he and his then-girlfriend, Stevie Nicks, teamed up with Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie to make the chart-topping "Fleetwood Mac" album that spun off hits like "Rhiannon" and "Landslide."