Category Archives: Lindsey Buckingham

Fleetwood Mac: Mick Fleetwood speaks on possible Lindsey Buckingham RETURN – ‘Time heals’ | Daily Express

by George Simpson
Daily Express
Oct 14, 2020

FLEETWOOD MAC founder Mick Fleetwood has spoken out on the possibility of Lindsey Buckingham returning to the band.

Fleetwood Mac: Mick Fleetwood speaks on possible Lindsey Buckingham RETURN – ‘Time heals’ (Image: GETTY)

Two years ago, Lindsey Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac and was replaced by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. Ever since, fans have wondered if the 71-year-old will be allowed back. After all, he left the band for a decade between 1987 and 1997, before returning for over 20 years.

And now drummer Mick Fleetwood has spoken out on the possibility of Buckingham rejoining Fleetwood Mac.

Speaking with Page Six, the 73-year-old said he has no idea if the guitarist and singer will be allowed to return.

Mick explained: “I think the reality is without going into huge detail, one of the things I always say is that the disconnect happened and there were emotions that were somewhat not removable and there are personal things within the band and Lindsey’s world.

“All I can say is really openly is that Lindsey Buckingham and the work he has done with the band is never going to go away and we have a functioning band with the changes that we made.”

Mick added: “You know time heals and it was lovely to be able to talk with him.”

The drummer spoke with Buckingham in the summer following the death of Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green.

Lindsey said: “I know you’re really sad”, which Mick admits he was.

He admitted: “And that’s what reconnected me and Lindsey.” Continue reading Fleetwood Mac: Mick Fleetwood speaks on possible Lindsey Buckingham RETURN – ‘Time heals’ | Daily Express

Watch Lindsey Buckingham Sing for First Time Since Heart Surgery | Rolling Stone

August 10, 2020
by Andy Greene
Rolling Stone

Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist sang four songs via Zoom, including “Never Going Back Again”

Lindsey Buckingham sings for the first time since 2019 heart surgery

Lindsey Buckingham has kept a low profile since he was sidelined by emergency heart surgery in February 2019, but he re-emerged on Friday for a four-song acoustic set via Zoom for the tech company Nutanix.

Buckingham played the Fleetwood Mac songs “Never Going Back Again” and “Big Love,” along with his solo cuts “Trouble” and “Shut Us Down,” marking the first time he’s sung in public since the operation.

“This [pandemic] has been like a couple of years previous in which things occurred that I did not see coming,” he said. “One was my split from Fleetwood Mac. Another one was having a bypass operation, which I did not expect to happen. You could say that this makes it a trifecta of events that were completely off the charts.”

Buckingham’s vocal cords were damaged during the bypass operation. “While it is unclear if the damage is permanent, we are hopeful it is not,” Buckingham’s wife Kristen said in a statement at the time.

His first post-surgery appearance took place at his daughter’s high school graduation ceremony where he played “Landslide,” but the students handled all the vocals. He also announced a solo tour in February 2020 for April and May but had to cancel due to the pandemic.

“There are things that are going to happen that you cannot control,” Buckingham says. “There certainly is a lesson in acceptance there, but there’s also a lesson in looking for what is really essential within those circumstances. Yes, I’ve got my talent and my artistic process that I value greatly…Beyond that, I’m here every day with my wife and my children and that is the gift that is essential to all of this. That becomes the silver lining. You are gently, or not-so-gently, reminded of essentials.”

Near the end of the broadcast, Buckingham gave an update on his solo record. “I do have an album coming out,” he said. “We’re waiting to see where this is all going. We don’t have a release date. I was meant to be out on the road now promoting it. It should be out in the spring sometime. It’s just self-titled: Lindsey Buckingham. We’ll see where that goes.”

Continue reading Watch Lindsey Buckingham Sing for First Time Since Heart Surgery | Rolling Stone

Lindsey Buckingham Reschedules 2020 Tour

by
April 15, 2020

Lindsey Buckingham has rescheduled most of the dates of his brief solo tour that had been scheduled for spring 2020. The musician had a dozen dates planned for April and May. Eight of them have been moved to the summer.

When he postponed the tour on March 24, Buckingham wrote, “It is with great sadness that we are having to postpone my tour dates… due to the Covid-19 pandemic.” He noted that he is in the process of rescheduling the concerts.

The original Feb. 11 announcement of the tour arrived one year after the shocking news from his wife, Kristen, that the musician had had heart surgery in early February 2019.

Buckingham’s planned tour consisted of just 12 dates, one of which, the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis, Tenn, was announced on Dec. 20. The annual festival has since been moved to Oct. 16-18, though as of April 13, the organizers had not yet announced their revised lineup.

Buckingham’s spring tour of theater-sized venues was scheduled to begin April 25 and continue through May 13. Surprisingly, there were few days off and at one point, he had shows on six of seven nights. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.

Kristen Buckingham had shared the news of her husband’s health on his social media platforms on Feb. 8, 2019. He had suffered vocal cord damage and was “recuperating at home and each day he is stronger than the last,” she wrote. He turned 70 on Oct. 3, 2019.

Buckingham had a highly visible parting from Fleetwood Mac in 2018. The band completed a tour this fall with two replacements – the Heartbreakers’ lead guitarist Mike Campbell, and longtime Split Enz/Crowded House guitarist-vocalist Neil Finn. Buckingham spent much of his time in 2018 organizing an anthology and performing on a solo tour.

Lindsey Buckingham 2020 Tour (Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com)

To Be Rescheduled
May 03 – Memphis, TN – Beale Street Music Festival
May 05 – Atlanta, GA – Woodruff Arts Center
May 12 – Tucson, AZ – Fox Tucson Theatre
May 13 – El Cajon, CA – Magnolia PAC

New Dates
Jul 31 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant (was May 1)
Aug 02 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater (was Apr 30)
Aug 04 – Wichita, KS – Orpheum Theatre (was May 9)
Aug 05 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion (was May 10)
Aug 07 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater (was April 28)
Aug 15 – Las Vegas, NV – The Smith Center for the Perf. Arts (was Apr 25)
Aug 29 – Huntsville, AL – Von Braun Center (was May 7)
Aug 30 – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre (was May 6)

Lindsey Buckingham Update

It is with great sadness that we are having to postpone my tour dates in April and May due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We are in the process of rescheduling the dates. Please contact your venue for further information. Full rescheduled dates will be announced as soon as possible.

The New Yorker – Culture Desk
Music to Endure the Coronavirus Quarantine

Lindsey Buckingham

The coronavirus pandemic has been like no other phenomenon I’ve ever witnessed. The breadth of its reach, the seeming geometric progression of events, along with the chaotic manner in which information is unfolding, makes it a little difficult to maintain a grasp on what’s going on. Things seem to change by the day. I have a new album coming out at some point, and though the main body of my tour in support of that album is planned to begin in August, we’d also booked some earlier dates, in May, and thus were supposed to begin rehearsals this week. On Friday, I conferenced with my agent and managers and decided it would be best to cancel those May dates and not convene for rehearsals. So, for now, everything’s on hold. A couple of tracks I’ve been listening to lately are the new single from the Killers, “Caution,” which I played on, and the new one from Haim, “The Steps,” which is also great. And my son turned me on to the new King Krule album. He’s someone I find very interesting—a touch of Joe Strummer! But, mainly, I’ve been listening a lot to my own album, as I’m right in the middle of mastering. That’s something I’ve continued doing, as it’s important to finish as many things as possible and have the album ready when things eventually get back to normal.

Keith Olsen obituary | The Times

The Times

Producer who turned Fleetwood Mac into superstars only to have a falling out when he banned them from taking drugs in the studio

Fleetwood Mac: Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie and John McVie in 1975
GAB ARCHIVE/REDFERNS

On the last day of 1974, Keith Olsen received a phone call that was destined to change the face of popular music.

On the line was Mick Fleetwood, the drummer with Fleetwood Mac, calling from a payphone at Los Angeles airport. Olsen was booked to produce the struggling English band’s next album in the new year but Fleetwood had some bad news to impart. His services would no longer be required because Bob Welch, the group’s guitarist, singer and main songwriter, had quit and Fleetwood Mac were facing extinction.

The two put their heads together in search of a rescue plan. Olsen had recently discovered a talented young guitarist named Lindsey Buckingham and his girlfriend Stevie Nicks. They wrote songs together and Olsen had produced an album for them. The record had flopped and “sold bupkis”, as he put it: at the time of Fleetwood’s phone call the duo were without a recording contract and Nicks was working as Olsen’s house cleaner for $250 a month.

However, Fleetwood had heard their record and was one of the few to be impressed. Perhaps, he suggested, Buckingham might be persuaded to join Fleetwood Mac? Olsen told him that he thought it was unlikely and, in any case, they wouldn’t be split up and he came as a pair with Nicks.

“Well, maybe that will work. Can you see if you can convince them to join my band?” Fleetwood asked. Abandoning his new year plans, Olsen drove to the couple’s apartment, taking with him “the obligatory bottle of bad champagne”. Continue reading Keith Olsen obituary | The Times

Lindsey Buckingham Announces 2020 Solo Tour Rolling Stone

By Andy Green,
Rolling Stone
Feb 11, 2020

Shows will mark first performances since he was sidelined by a heart attack in 2019

Two months after announcing that he’d be performing at Tennessee’s Beale Street Music Festival in May, Lindsey Buckingham has rolled out dates for a 12-date tour of the U.S. It kicks off April 25th at the Smith Center in Las Vegas and wraps up May 13th at the Magnolia Performing Arts Center in El Cajon, California.

These will be his first concerts since he was sidelined by a heart attack in February 2019.

“Unfortunately, the life-saving procedure caused vocal cord damage,” his family said in a statement at the time, “the permanency of which is unclear.”

He re-emerged just three months after the surgery to perform the Fleetwood Mac classic “Landslide” at his daughter Leelee’s high school graduation ceremony, but the students handled the vocal parts. He has not sang in public since the surgery and the state of his voice is not known, but last year his wife Kristen Tweeted out that he had met with vocal specialists. “We’re ready for whatever is next,” she wrote. “Love conquers all.”

Buckingham was let go from Fleetwood Mac in 2018 after years of tension with Stevie Nicks and replaced by Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He sued the band for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The matter was settled out of court.

Last month, Mick Fleetwood ruled out any scenario where Buckingham would return to the band. “We’re very, very committed to Neil and Mike, and that passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left,” he told Rolling Stone. “And it’s not a point of conversation, so I have to say no. 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.”

Lindsey Buckingham Tour Dates

Apr 25th – Las Vegas, NV @ Smith Center
Apr 28th – Boulder CO @ Boulder Theater
Apr 30th – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
May 1st – St Louis, MO @ The Pageant
May 3rd – Memphis, TN @ Beale Street Music Festival
May 5th – Atlanta, GA @ The Woodruff Arts Center
May 6th – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
May 7th – Huntsville, AL @ Von Braun Center Arena
May 9th – Wichita, KS @ Orpheum Theatre
May 10th – Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion
May 12th – Tucson, AZ @ Fox Tucson Theatre
May 13th – Cajon, CA @ Magnolia Performing Arts Center

 

Lindsey Buckingham Announces First Concert Since Open-Heart Surgery | Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone
Kory Grow
20 December 2019

Former Fleetwood Mac singer-guitarist will appear at Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis

Former Fleetwood Mac singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham will return to the stage this coming spring for his first concert since he underwent emergency open-heart surgery in early 2019, an operation that reportedly damaged his vocal cords. Doctors fed tubes down his throat so he could breathe.

The performance will take place at the Beale Street Music Festival, in Memphis’ Tom Lee Park; the dates for the festival run May 1st to the 3rd.

Buckingham experienced a heart attack in the early part of 2019, and, at the time, his wife Kristen said she didn’t know if the vocal-cord damage would be permanent or not. In May, Buckingham made an appearance at his daughter’s high school graduation, where he played — but did not sing — “Landslide.” Instead, the students sang the Fleetwood Mac hit.

The last time he played a full concert was in December 2018. It was a solo show, since Fleetwood Mac dismissed him in the spring of 2018, reportedly over tension with Stevie Nicks. Buckingham sued Fleetwood Mac in 2018 and settled out of court.

“The past year has been a very stressful and difficult year for our family to say the least,” Kristen said in her statement at the time of Lindsey’s heart attack — referencing his dismissal from the band. “But despite all of this, our gratitude for life trumps all obstacles we have faced at this moment. … Needless to say, all touring and shows currently scheduled have been put on pause for the moment as he gathers strength to heal completely.”

Although she released numerous tweets attacking Fleetwood Mac — calling them “awful people, void of conscience,” and Mick Fleetwood, in particular, a “dishonest coward” — Kristen hasn’t said anything about her husband’s ability to sing. That said, in May, she tweeted that Buckingham was seeing a vocal specialist, and in September, she wrote that “life, love and Lindsey are all great.”

Since Lindsey’s heart attack, the Buckinghams have placed their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home on the market, with an asking price of $29.5 million; they sold another home there for $19 million last year.

Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’: 10 Things You Didn’t Know | Rolling Stone

By Ryan Reed
Rolling Stone Online
October 11, 2019

How an in-studio bathroom replica, juvenile dick jokes, and a Peter Green guitar cameo informed the band’s sprawling, experimental follow-up to Rumours

BOSTON, MA – NOVEMBER 17: Stevie Nicks performs with Fleetwood Mac at the Boston Garden on Nov. 17, 1979. (Photo by Janet Knott/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Fleetwood Mac’s 12th album is both demented and debonair, familiar and foreign — a sprawling double LP that, like the Beatles’ White Album before it, reveled in its own messiness, jumbling together the work of three distinct songwriters. Singer Stevie Nicks and keyboardist Christine McVie carried the commercial weight on Tusk, penning playful pop grooves (the latter’s “Think About Me”) and stormy rockers (the former’s “Sisters of the Moon”) that massaged the same sweet spot as their previous record, the mega-platinum 1977 masterwork Rumours.

But Lindsey Buckingham was unwilling to repeat himself. Savoring the edgier modern sounds of New Wave and punk, the singer-guitarist prepared to march into the unknown — whether or not his bandmates were interested in the journey. That friction ultimately defines Tusk, the band’s fractured masterpiece. 

“The explosion of the punk movement had changed the musical landscape, and the popular conception was that bands like ours, Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Elton John and everyone else from our era, were a bunch of dinosaurs who’d lost touch with the real world,” drummer Mick Fleetwood wrote in his 2014 autobiography, Then Play On. “That wasn’t true, of course — we were in touch and aware of all those changes in culture, Lindsey most of all. He was intrigued by punk bands like the Clash and lots of New Wave artists such as Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson, and he wanted to follow that muse creatively. The issue for him was whether or not he was going to be able to do that with the rest of us.” Continue reading Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’: 10 Things You Didn’t Know | Rolling Stone

Watch Lindsey Buckingham Perform for First Time Since Heart Surgery | Rolling Stone

By Andy Greene
May 20th, 2019
Rolling Stone

The former Fleetwood Mac guitarist performed “Landslide” at a high school graduation ceremony for his daughter Leelee

Lindsey Buckingham, the former Fleetwood Mac guitarist who underwent open heart surgery earlier this year, made his first public appearance since the procedure over the weekend at his daughter Leelee’s high school graduation ceremony. Buckingham performed Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” on acoustic guitar while students from his daughter’s school sang the 1975 classic.

“Last night was epic,” his wife Kristen Buckingham tweeted. “First time I’ve seen Lindsey play in the last 4 mos, all the while Leelee ending her high school career. AND she sings a little ‘Landslide’ with her dad. I cried, I’ll admit it. Never know what’s ahead so enjoy the moment…”

In early February, Buckingham announced that her husband underwent emergency open heart surgery. “He is now recuperating at home each day he is stronger than the last,” Kristen Buckingham said in a statement at the time. “While he and his heart are doing well, the surgery resulted in vocal cord damage. It is unclear if this damage is permanent, we are hopeful it is not.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Last night 💫✨

A post shared by Kristen Buckingham (@kbchrush) on

Last year, Fleetwood Mac parted ways with Buckingham shortly before announcing a world tour, replacing him with Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House. The band said the main issue was a disagreement over the timing of the tour. “We arrived at the impasse of hitting a brick wall,” Mick Fleetwood told Rolling Stone. “This was not a happy situation for us in terms of the logistics of a functioning band. To that purpose, we made a decision that we could not go on with him. Majority rules in term of what we need to do as a band and go forward.” Continue reading Watch Lindsey Buckingham Perform for First Time Since Heart Surgery | Rolling Stone

The Never Ending Story of Fleetwood Mac | MOJO Magazine

“It Wasn’t About Replacing Lindsey Or Replicating Him In Any Way”

Minus the persona non grata and now-incapacitated Lindsey Buckingham, FLEETWOOD MAC truck on towards a date with the UK in June. Their new line-up is controversial, but they claim it’s working and, what’s more, it was ever thus. “If you look at the history of Fleetwood Mac,” Mick Fleetwood tells DAVE DIMARTINO, “it’s a miracle that it survived. A miracle.”

IT IS MID-NOVEMBER OF 2018, FLEETWOOD MAC are performing at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, and Stevie Nicks is introducing Landslide.

“This song was written in 1973 in Aspen, Colorado,” she tells the rapt audience. “just me and my little guitar, deciding what I want to do with my life. I want to dedicate this to my cousins Sandy and Eddie, who are here, and also to Lindsey Wilkinson, an old friend. Another Lindsey that I also really loved, you know.” There is a brief, barely perceptible pause. “Not like that.” The crowd laughs at her mixture of candour and innuendo, that wee wisp of Harlequin romance paperback covers long gone, and the band plays Nicks’ classic note perfect, as if it were 1975 all over again. But of course, it isn’t 1975 again.

Absent from the stage is guitarist/singer and one-time Nicks musical and personal partner Lindsey Buckingham, who with Nicks joined the band at the tail end of 1974 and helped guide them to an unparalleled level of fame. He’s not only gone, he’s really gone: a month previously Buckingham had filed suit in the Superior Court of Los Angeles claiming to have been unjustly booted from the band. Thus this long-planned, lucrative tour — which extends through 2019 and includes the States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand — now features replacements Neil Finn, of Crowded House, and Mike Campbell, of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, and no Lindsey Buckingham. Continue reading The Never Ending Story of Fleetwood Mac | MOJO Magazine