Less than a year after Fleetwood Mac drummer and co-founder Mick Fleetwood stated that longtime guitarist Lindsey Buckingham‘s would likely never return to the band, he’s now changed his tune.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Fleetwood touched on the current state of his relationship with Buckingham, who was fired by Fleetwood Mac in spring 2018 after he wanted to focus on his solo projects prior to the band’s An Evening With Fleetwood Mac World Tour. Buckingham was replaced on lead guitar duties by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers‘ guitarist Mike Campbell.
“I’ve really enjoyed being re-connected with Lindsey, which has been gracious and open, and both of us have been beautifully honest about who we are and how we got to where we were,” Fleetwood said in the recent interview. “Strange things can happen. I look at Fleetwood Mac as a huge family. Everyone plays an important role in our history, even someone like guitarist Bob Welch, who was huge and sometimes gets forgotten. Lindsey’s position in Fleetwood Mac will, for obvious reasons, never been forgotten, as it should never be forgotten.”
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With Fleetwood no longer blatantly opposed to Buckingham returning to the Fleetwood Mac family one day, he did point out that the main area of conflict now remains between Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks.
“I can’t speak for the dynamic with Stevie and him,” Fleetwood continued. “I don’t even need to protect it. It’s so known that they’re chalk and cheese in so many ways, and yet not.”
Fleetwood says he reached out to Buckingham following the death of early Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green in July 2020. Buckingham also underwent open-heart surgery not long after being fired from the band, which resulted in the guitarist and singer severely damaging his vocal cords. His first “public performance” following the major surgery took place on August 7th, 2020.
[H/T Rolling Stone]