Fleetwood Mac will never reunite with Lindsey Buckingham, says Mick Fleetwood

Former guitarist was fired by the band in 2018

Fleetwood Mac‘s Mick Fleetwood has ruled out opening the door to Lindsey Buckingham rejoining the band.

Buckingham was fired by the band in 2018 and they continued to tour without the guitarist with Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.

When asked whether or not he could see a scenario in which the band will play with Buckingham again, Fleetwood told Rolling Stone: “No. Fleetwood Mac is a strange creature. We’re very, very committed to Neil and Mike, and that passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left. And it’s not a point of conversation, so I have to say no.

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He added: “It’s a full drama of Fleetwood Mac, no doubt. His legacy is alive and well, and as it should be. A major, major part that will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us. Neil and Mike have tremendous respect for Lindsey. The situation was no secret. We were not happy. It was not working, and we parted company. And that really is the all of it.”

At the time of Buckingham’s sacking Fleetwood said: “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.”

Stevie Nicks later cited Buckingham wanting too much time off to concentrate on his solo work as the reason for his being kicked out of the band.

He denied that was the case and explained two days after they played the MusiCares concert, the band’s manager, Irving Azoff, called him at home in LA to pass on a message from Nicks. “Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again,” he was reportedly told.

“We rehearsed for two days, and everything was great,” Buckingham said of the days before the phone call. “We were getting along great.” But, during the conversation with Azoff, he was given a list of things “Stevie took issue with” in New York, including how he had “smirked” during her thank you speech and that he had had an outburst over the band’s intro music, ‘Rhiannon’.

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Last year, Glastonbury boss Emily Eavis ruled out Fleetwood Mac as potential headliners for the festival’s 50th anniversary.

It came after the band, who have long been linked with the festival, heightened speculation when Fleetwood told fans at their Wembley show that they still “had a big field to play”, before reiterating their desire to play Glastonbury in a subsequent interview.

However, founder Michael Eavis later addressed the band’s comments, admitting: “I can’t afford them at the moment! They’ll have to bring their price down because we can’t afford it. But they said the other day that they really want to do it and if they don’t do it before they die they’ll go to hell.”

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