Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood have rekindled their relationship and are back in the studio, seven years after the guitarist was dismissed from Fleetwood Mac.
That saw Buckingham, who spent 34 years in the band across two stints, watching from the sidelines as the band played their final shows a year later. But it appears any animosity has fizzled out, with Buckingham offering to play guitar and sing on Fleetwood’s in-progress solo album.
The reunion was revealed by Swedish songwriter and producer Carl Falk, who is currently overseeing work with Fleetwood on the record. Images shared on Threads show the pair locked together in conversation.
Having worked with and written for the likes of Madonna, Ariana Grande, and One Direction, Falk is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with big-name pop stars. Still, having the two Fleetwood Mac heavyweights before his eyes left him a little starstruck.
“Slightly unreal moment to sit with Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood to play Lindsey the album we have been working on,” he wrote on Threads last month.
“And to see his genuine happiness for Mick to finally do his own album and offering to play guitar and to sing on it. Can’t wait to finish this one.”
Falk has since posted more snippets, including a video of himself playing a guitar, while Buckingham strums on an acoustic. There’s also a cameo from War on Drugs singer/guitarist Adam Granduciel, prompting rumors of his involvement on the record.
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When Buckingham was fired from the band in 2018, disagreements around touring appeared to have been the trigger. However, the guitarist’s apparent poor attitude towards vocalist and ex-partner, Stevie Nicks, added further complications to Buckingham’s involvement.
It seemingly took two guitarists to replace him, with Crowded House’s Neil Finn and former Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell both stepping in for the final tour.
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Finn has since reflected that, “I don't think he was very happy about the situation,” but hoped that at some point Buckingham “might have thought, ‘Oh, well, at least somebody that can write a good song has taken my part,’” while Campbell focused on “doing the songs justice.”
It felt like the split was inevitable – the definitive 2018 parting coming after years of tensions and disagreements. After all, his complex relationship with Nicks had already spelled the end of his first Fleetwood Mac tenure in 1987.
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The band has, against the odds, made disharmony work in their favor: 1977’s mega-selling Rumours hinges on tumult, written on the foundation of Nicks and Buckingham’s souring relationship, and the divorce of Christine and John McVie.
Buckingham rejoined in 1997, and his second departure can be traced back to the 2018 MusiCares concert, when, in a rare interview with Rolling Stone last year, Nicks said, “I dealt with Lindsey for as long as I could. You could not say that I did not give him more than 300 million chances.”
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Fleetwood, however, has held a desire to reunite with Buckingham in the intervening years, in spite of the guitarist’s actions. Speaking to the US Weekly in February, he said, “I always have a fantasy that [Stevie] and Lindsay would pal up a bit more and just say everything’s OK for them both.
“I miss playing as much as we used to. I’m hoping next year, one way or another, some band somewhere will say, come and play with drums or something. So I always love to do whatever I can do working on an album that next year we may tour with it. I don’t know, [but] not Fleetwood Mac.”
Whether the Buckingham-Nicks relationship is repairable or not, it’s clear there is the drummer and guitarist remain on fine terms. For Fleetwood Mac fans, seeing the pair in the studio together can only be a good thing.
In recent Fleetwood Mac news, Mike Campbell opened up to Guitar World about his experience touring the world with the legendary band for two years.
