Eva Buckland
Daily Mail
23rd Oct 2018

Fleetwood Mac have announced a new European tour, days after it emerged the band were being sued for millions of dollars by ex bandmate Lindsey Buckingham for sacking him.

The Go Your Own Way hitmakers, who have sold more than 100m albums in a 51 year career, will perform gigs in Berlin, Dublin and London next June.

The iconic band, comprised of Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie – will be joined by newcomers, the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.

Ushering in a new era for the band, Mick, 71, spoke of the ‘chemistry’ the band has with the new members, saying: ‘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 realise 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.’

The group added: ‘We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the calibre 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 honouring that spirit on this upcoming tour.’

The band will perform at Berlin’s Waldbühne on June 6, the RDS Arena in Dublin on June 13 before rocking London’s Wembley Stadium on June 16.

The Everywhere group will be without guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, 69, who was axed from the group earlier this year amid claims of disagreements over their upcoming tour.

The musician, who wrote and sang the group’s monster 1976 hit Go Your Own Way,  initially joined the iconic group in 1975 before departing in 1987, but he re-joined in 1997.

In a 28-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and a recent interview, Buckingham laid bare the astonishing extent to which he has fallen out with his former band mates — particularly singer Stevie, his ex-lover.

The case also reveals quite how lucratively popular the band remains.

Tickets to see them earlier this month in St Louis, Missouri, on their new tour cost up to $899 (£686). Meanwhile, the most expensive tickets to see Buckingham’s current solo tour are less than a tenth that price.

According to Buckingham’s lawsuit, each of the band’s five members was to earn around $13 million from playing 60 shows over two years in a deal with a concert producer, Live Nation. He accuses his former band members of breaching their fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract and ‘international interference with prospective economic advantage’.

He is also demanding his share of the tour income because he still wants to perform.

Other Fleetwood Mac members say he was sacked because he wouldn’t fit in with their touring plans and they met a ‘brick wall’ in negotiations.

Lindsey admits he initially requested the tour be delayed for three months so he could concentrate on his solo album. However, he insists he later relented and agreed to the original timing.

Two days after Fleetwood Mac performed at a charity do in New York in January, he says he was told the tour was off. But three days later he discovered the band was going without him.

His band mates had ‘secretly and unceremoniously moved on without him’, even hiring two musicians to sing and play in his place, his lawsuit complains. ‘After 43 years of camaraderie and friendship, not a single member of the band called Buckingham to break the news to him,’ it goes on.

In his lawsuit, he doesn’t spare the feelings of other Fleetwood Mac members in making clear that the band — first formed in 1967 — was only really successful when he was part of it.

After his departure in 1987, ‘the band’s popularity declined precipitously’, says the lawsuit, adding that his return revitalised their fortunes.

Fleetwood Mac says it ‘strongly disputes’ Buckingham’s claims. In a statement last week, a spokesman said: ‘Fleetwood Mac looks forward to their day in court.’

The band’s set list will encompass parts of their entire back catalogue, rather than just the 1975-1987 period of the first tenure of the guitarist.

Singer Stevie recently explained: ‘We were never able to do that since 1975 because certain people in the band weren’t interested in doing that.

‘Now we’re able to open the set with a lot; a raucous version of [1969’s] ‘Rattlesnake Shake’ or something. I’d also like to do [1970’s] ‘Station Man,’ which has always been one of may favorites. We’re definitely doing [1970’s] ‘Oh Well.”

Tickets for Fleetwood Mac go on sale to the general public on October 26 at 9am at www.livenation.co.uk