(CelebrityAccess) — The long-running feud between former Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham and his former bandmate and romantic partner Stevie Nicks just got a little uglier.
Buckingham, who was unceremoniously fired from Fleetwood Mac ahead of the group’s 2018 tour, told Rolling Stone in a new interview that Nicks was the primary factor for why he was forced out of the band.
According to Buckingham, Nicks “wanted to shape the band in her own image, a more mellow thing.” He continued, stating: “I think others in the band just felt that they were not empowered enough individually, for whatever their own reasons, to stand up for what was right. And so it became a little bit like Trump and the Republicans.”
Buckingham went on to throw shade at the band’s 2018 tour, noting that with his replacements, Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn, that Fleetwood Mac seemed like a pale imitation of itself in his absence.
“I didn’t see it,” Buckingham told Rolling Stone. “I’m sure it was fine. Although just looking at the set list, the whole thing seemed somewhat generic and perhaps bordering on being a cover band. We’ve all had our ups and down, but we always put the band’s legacy first. But what this did was dishonor the legacy that we built.”
For the interview, Rolling Stone solicited a statement from Stevie Nicks, who said that Buckingham was providing an inaccurate and “revisionist” take on the events of 2018.
Nicks statement to Rolling Stone in full:
“It’s unfortunate that Lindsey has chosen to tell a revisionist history of what transpired in 2018 with Fleetwood Mac. 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. Following an exceedingly difficult time with Lindsey at MusiCares in New York, in 2018, I 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. To be exceedingly clear, 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. 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.
Further to that, as for a comment on “family” — I was thrilled for Lindsey when he had children, but I wasn’t interested in making those same life choices. Those are my decisions that I get to make for myself. I’m proud of the life choices I’ve made, and it seems a shame for him to pass judgment on anyone who makes a choice to live their life on their own terms, even if it looks differently from what his life choices have been.”
