Stevie Nicks has made her first public statement surrounding the firing of founding Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.
In 2018, it was announced that Lindsey Buckingham had been fired from the Fleetwood Mac fold. In the months following his sacking, Buckingham claimed that his departure was not discussed with his bandmates, instead, manager Irving Azoff broke the news.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Buckingham detailed the lead-up to his dismissal from the band, claiming that he was fired after asking Fleetwood Mac to postpone a forthcoming tour for three months so that he could release and tour his solo album. The band refused.
Buckingham went on to say that he offered a compromise, in which he would book his solo shows in the cities coinciding with the planned Fleetwood Mac gigs. He claims he was fired following these conversations.
Buckingham went to say that Stevie Nicks “wanted to shape the band in her own image.” He has previously claimed that Nicks was the reason he was fired from the band.
In a statement provided to Rolling Stone, Stevie Nicks has broken her silence, stating that Buckingham’s take on the events were “factually inaccurate.”
“It’s unfortunate that Lindsey has chosen to tell a revisionist history of what transpired in 2018 with Fleetwood Mac,” she wrote. “His version of events is factually inaccurate, and while I’ve never spoken publicly on the matter, preferring to not air dirty laundry, certainly it feels the time has come to shine a light on the truth.”
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Nicks went on to detail an “exceedingly difficult” experience with Buckingham at the 2018 MusiCares’ event in New York, where Fleetwood Mac were recognized as Person of the Year. According to Nicks, Buckingham “complained” that the band was introduced at the event with the Nicks-helmed song ‘Rhiannon.’
Listen to ‘Rhiannon’ by Fleetwood Mac
Following the event, Nicks writes that she “decided for myself that I was no longer willing to work with him.”
“I could publicly reflect on the many reasons why, and perhaps I will do that someday in a memoir, but suffice it to say we could start in 1968 and work up to 2018 with a litany of very precise reasons why I will not work with him,” she continued.
Nicks went on to emphasise that, “I did not have him fired, I did not ask for him to be fired, I did not demand he be fired. Frankly, I fired myself.”
“I proactively removed myself from the band and a situation I considered to be toxic to my well-being. I was done. If the band went on without me, so be it,” she wrote.
“I have championed independence my whole life, and I believe every human being should have the absolute freedom to set their boundaries of what they can and cannot work with. And after many lengthy group discussions, Fleetwood Mac, a band whose legacy is rooted in evolution and change, found a new path forward with two hugely talented new members.”
Following the departure of Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac welcomed Crowded House legend Neil Finn into the ranks.
Lindsey Buckingham will release his forthcoming self-titled solo album on September 17th.
