Daily Archives: April 9, 2018

Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Tour Info

Fleetwood Mac Fires Lindsey Buckingham | Rolling Stone

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Rolling Stone
April 9th, 2018

Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House to replace departing guitarist

Fleetwood Mac has fired Lindsey Buckingham after a disagreement over the band’s upcoming tour, Rolling Stone has confirmed. The band announced Monday that Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House will replace him.

News of Buckingham’s departure initially broke when former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette shared an April 4th tweet that has since been deleted, saying: “Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out but I’m not in.” Rolling Stone has confirmed Buckingham’s departure, though no specific tour dates have been announced.

Fleetwood Mac issued a collective statement about the news, saying: “We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs. Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.”

Mick Fleetwood added, “Fleetwood Mac has always been about an amazing collection of songs that are performed with a unique blend of talents … We jammed with Mike and Neil and the chemistry really worked and let the band realize that this is the right combination to go forward within Fleetwood Mac style. We know we have something new, yet it’s got the unmistakable Mac sound.”

Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974 along with Stevie Nicks. He wrote and sang many of their most memorable songs, including “Go Your Own Way,” “Tusk” and “Second Hand News.” He left in 1987 shortly before the Tango On The Night tour (where he was replaced by Billy Burnette) and rejoined in 1996 for The Dance reunion tour. He remained active on the road with them for the next two decades. They last played full sets at Classic East and Classics West in July of last year, through they did play a brief set in January at the pre-Grammy MusiCares concert in their honor. The set ended, fittingly enough, with “Go Your Own Way.”

In August of last year, Mick Fleetwood spoke to Rolling Stone about the band’s next tour. “I was in Italy recently and met Stevie out there,” he said. “She said to me, ‘Let’s sit down and really listen to some stuff that sort of almost got forgotten.’ So I know she’s already thinking she wants to do some things we haven’t done in years. I always think that Stevie and Lindsey should do a Buckingham Nicks song in the set. And have Christine do a blues song. I hope it certainly won’t be the same show as we did before. We always played nearly three hours, and we cut it back a little bit for the wear and tear, but we do over two hours. And when you got three singers, which is, like, three bands, really, to get that perfect set, it’s a trip.”

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac to Tour With Neil Finn, Mike Campbell as Lindsey Buckingham’s Replacements | Variety

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April 9th, 2018
By Jem Aswad and Shirley Halperin
Variety.com

Shortly after Variety confirmed that Lindsey Buckingham had left the band, Fleetwood Mac announced plans to tour this Fall with two new members: Mike Campbell (pictured below, left), longtime lead guitarist for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn (right) will be joining the Mac for their upcoming tour, with final dates being confirmed shortly.

“Fleetwood Mac has always been about an amazing collection of songs that are performed with a unique blend of talents,” Mick Fleetwood said. “We jammed with Mike and Neil and the chemistry really worked and let the band realize that this is the right combination to go forward with in Fleetwood Mac style. We know we have something new, yet it’s got the unmistakable Mac sound.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs,” said the group collectively. “Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.”

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Fleetwood Mac was founded by Peter Green in 1967 and was named after Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.  After Peter Green left in 1969, Fleetwood and McVie remained as original members, and the band has since featured a cast of brilliant talents. Most notably, Christine McVie joined the band in 1970, with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joining in 1974. When Buckingham left the group in 1987 for 10 years, he was replaced with two singer/guitarists, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

The statement concludes: “Lindsey Buckingham will not be performing with the band on this tour. The band wishes Lindsey all the best.”

Campbell worked with Tom Petty for nearly 50 years as lead guitarist and main musical foil in both their early band Mudcrutch as well as the Heartbreakers. Petty and the Heartbreakers backed Stevie Nicks on her first solo album, 1981’s “Bella Donna,” duetting with her on the hit single “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Petty and the Heartbreakers had just completed a 40th anniversary tour last year when Petty died suddenly of an accidental drug overdose. While the group’s connection to Finn is not quite as strong, he is friendly with Mick Fleetwood, who performed with Neil’s son Liam at an event in New Zealand last year.

Buckingham last performed with Fleetwood Mac when the band were honored as MusiCares Person of the Year during a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall during Grammy Week. Former President Bill Clinton inducted the group and a number of acts covered their songs, including Alison Krauss, Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Little Big Town, Imagine Dragons, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Haim, Jared Leto and Harry Styles, who not only introduced the band but joined them for “The Chain.” The group then played a short set to close out the night.

Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham Leaves Fleetwood Mac | Variety

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April 9th, 2018
Shirly Halperin
Variety.com

Lindsey Buckingham, guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire, has left the group Fleetwood Mac, Variety has confirmed. Buckingham has been a key member of Fleetwood Mac, playing with the band from 1975 to 1987, then, after a decade-long break, returning to the fold in 1997. Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a year later.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Stephen Lovekin/REX/Shutterstock (9335827bn)
Lindsey Buckingham
MusiCares Person of the Year Gala, Arrivals, New York, USA – 26 Jan 2018

 

News of the exit was first shared by guitarist Billy Burnette, who tweeted on April 4, “Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out but I’m not in.” The message was deleted a few hours after posting. Presumably, Burnette, who replaced Buckingham in the group from 1987 until it went on hiatus in 1995, was angling for a position in the band.

Buckingham was not a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, which formed in 1967, but was asked to join the group after the exit of Bob Welch in 1974. That incarnation of the band, which also included Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks, went on to release one of the most successful albums of its time, 1977’s “Rumours,” which has sold more than 40 million copies and yielded such classics as “Don’t Stop” and “Go Your Own Way,” the latter written by Buckingham alone, as well as “The Chain” and “You Make Loving Fun.”

As a solo artist, Buckingham has released six studio albums. Last year, he and Christine McVie teamed for a well-received collection of original songs under the banner Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie.

Fleetwood Mac is managed by CSM and Suretone Management and booked by CAA.