Lindsey Buckingham suffers vocal cord damage during heart surgery

Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham is currently questioning the future of his singing career, after heart surgery left him with damage to his vocal cords.

No matter how you look at it, the last year has been a bit of a rough one for Lindsey Buckingham. After being fired from Fleetwood Mac back in April, the longtime guitarist was replaced by the likes of Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.

Since then, Buckingham revealed that Stevie Nicks was behind his firing, while a lawsuit was filed against his former bandmates. Despite all this, Buckingham has remained somewhat optimistic, explaining that he would still happily rejoin the group if he were asked to.

However, a recent surgery has left the musician’s singing abilities in doubt.

As Rolling Stone reports, Lindsey Buckingham’s wife Kristen recently released a statement revealing that emergency open heart surgery has left the iconic musician with damage to his vocal cords.

“I am sad to say that late last week Lindsey underwent emergency open heart surgery,” Kristen Buckingham wrote. “He is now recuperating at home and each day he is stronger than the last.”

“While he and his heart are doing well, the surgery resulted in vocal cord damage. While it is is unclear if this damage is permanent, we are hopeful it is not.”

https://twitter.com/KBChrush/status/1093969115859935233

“This past year has been a very stressful and difficult year for our family to say the least,” Buckingham continued. “But despite all this, our gratitude for life trumps all obstacles we have faced at this moment. We feel so fortunate he’s alive. As does he.”

“He looks forward to recovery and putting this behind him. Needless to say, all touring and shows currently scheduled have been put on pause for the moment as he gathers the strength to heal completely. ”

“Our family thought it important to share what’s happening with Lindsey with the hope that inspires someone else to seek preventative care,” she concluded. “Lindsey’s family has a history of heart issues, having lost both his father at 56 and his brother at 46 to heart related illness.”

“If anyone is experiencing even the mildest of symptoms we encourage you to seek the care of a physician.”

While it remains to be seen how Lindsey Buckingham will recover from this vocal cord damage, we wish him all the best during what is clearly a difficult time.

In related news, Buckingham’s former bandmates are set to visit Australia later in the year for their first Aussie tour in four years. Check out all the details below.