Tag Archives: Mick Fleetwood

Lindsey Buckingham says he never got “closure” with Stevie Nicks | NME

“We had to spend an awful lot of time together without ever having gotten closure from each other”

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. CREDIT: Lester Cohen/Getty Images

Lindsey Buckingham has said he never got “closure” with former Fleetwood Mac bandmate and ex-parter Stevie Nicks following their much-publicised breakup.

Speaking in a new interview, Buckingham, who was fired from the band in April 2018, discussed his relationship with Nicks and reflected on not getting any closure after their fallout.

“And really, again, that was part of the deal with Stevie and me was that we had to spend an awful lot of time together without ever having gotten closure from each other,” he told Nile Rodgers on his Apple Music 1 show Deep Hidden Meaning Radio With Nile Rodgers.

Buckingham continued: “Most people, when they break up, they don’t see each other for a long time or maybe ever again. But you’re not constantly having to not only see someone but, in my case, make the choice to do right for someone when I didn’t always feel that I wanted to, you know?

“In order to take a song of hers, like ‘Dreams’, which needed so much construction around it to take those same two chords and make them evolve from section A to section B to section C. And the love and the choice to do the right thing and to have the integrity to do that. It comes at a price sometimes, you know? It comes at the price of having your defences come up, and sometimes over a period of time, it’s hard to get those down.

Continue reading Lindsey Buckingham says he never got “closure” with Stevie Nicks | NME

Mick Fleetwood: ‘You’re talking to the dude who never gives up. We’re still a band’ | The Times (UK)

Will Hodgkinson
The Times

The drummer talks about the soap opera that has been Fleetwood Mac since 1967 — and the all-star tribute to bandmate Peter Green

Mick Fleetwood at last year’s London Palladium concert
ROSS HALFIN

For the past 54 years Mick Fleetwood, 73, has kept Fleetwood Mac going in the face of insurmountable odds. When the guitarist Lindsey Buckingham was fired from the band in 2018, in part linked to his former girlfriend Stevie Nicks announcing that she could not bear to share a stage with him again, it was just the latest hurdle for the soft-rock stadium fillers who have faced everything from divorces to affairs to drug-induced breakdowns.

The problems began when Peter Green, the band’s founder and one of the greatest guitarists, took LSD at a commune in Munich in March 1970 and never recovered. He left Fleetwood Mac a few months later.

“He was a lot of fun, right up until the day he walked out of the band,” says Fleetwood down the line from his home in Hawaii. “He had a real sense of ambition about what he wanted to do. You can listen to Man of the World now and hear the signs [in 1977 Green was diagnosed with schizophrenia], but I thought Peter had just written a sad song about a feeling.”

Perhaps that hindsight helped to spur Fleetwood on to put together a remarkable concert, which took place at the London Palladium on February 25, 2020 — just before the pandemic hit the UK — in honour of Green. Everyone from Fleetwood Mac’s keyboardist and singer Christine McVie to Pete Townshend to David Gilmour joined in, alongside some rather surprising Peter Green fans. Continue reading Mick Fleetwood: ‘You’re talking to the dude who never gives up. We’re still a band’ | The Times (UK)

Mick Fleetwood wants a Fleetwood Mac reunion with “everyone who’s ever played” in the band | NME

By Will Richards
26th March 2021

“I’m not done. And if I can get John McVie off his boat, he’s not done either!”

Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and John McVie of Fleetwood Mac arrive at the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards on January 26, 2018 in New York City. CREDIT: Steve Granitz/Getty Images

Mick Fleetwood has shared his desire for a full Fleetwood Mac reunion, and “everyone who’s ever played in Fleetwood Mac would be welcome”.

The news comes after Fleetwood revealed this month that he has reconciled with former bandmate Lindsey Buckingham – and would like to think a reunion could happen.

Guitarist Buckingham, who first left the band in 1987 before returning in 1997, was fired by the band in 2018, with Fleetwood adamant until now that his former bandmate would never be allowed to rejoin the band. Last year, he maintained his stance ruling out a reunion.

Elsewhere in Fleetwood Mac’s revolving door of band members, Stevie Nicks left in 1991 before returning alongside Buckingham in 1997, while Christine McVie rejoined the band in 2014 after retiring. The band’s latest tour in 2018 saw Buckingham replaced by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn on guitars.

NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 07: Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham perform at Madison Square Garden on October 7, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Asked who he thinks will be a part of Fleetwood Mac when the band next tours in a new interview by the Los Angeles Times, Fleetwood said: “I hope the whole fucking lot of them! I’m not done. And if I can get John McVie off his boat, he’s not done either!

Continue reading Mick Fleetwood wants a Fleetwood Mac reunion with “everyone who’s ever played” in the band | NME

Mick Fleetwood Open to Reunion With Lindsey Buckingham, Imagines Fleetwood Mac Farewell Tour | Rolling Stone

By Andy Greene
Rolling Stone
March 1, 2021

“Fleetwood Mac is such a strange story,” says the drummer. “I would love the elements that are not healed to be healed”

Musician Mick Fleetwood attends the 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Barclays Center on Friday, March 29, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

With the concert industry shut down for the foreseeable future and his bandmates spread to various spots around the planet, Mick Fleetwood truly doesn’t know what the future holds for Fleetwood Mac. But that hasn’t stopped the drummer from looking ahead and sketching out a possible farewell tour in his mind.

“I’m very aware that we’ve never played that card,” he tells Rolling Stone on the phone from his Hawaii home. “I think the vision for me, and I think it would be hugely appropriate, is that we actually say ‘this is goodbye’ and go out and actually do that. That has always been my vision and I’m a flatly confident that we can do that. We owe it to the fans.”

The comments appear to contradict Christine McVie’s recent statements to the BBC where she said that bassist John McVie was “a little bit frail” and no longer had “the heart for it.” She also said, “If we do it, it’ll be without John and without Stevie [Nicks], I think…I’m getting a bit old for it now. I don’t know if I can get myself back into it.”

McVie later walked back the comments, and Fleetwood says they shouldn’t be taken literally. “I think she got out of bed on the wrong side that day,” he says with a laugh. “She meant to say, ‘We’ve done so much. I don’t know whether or not we can keep going.’ Anything other than that, she can speak for herself. But I can assure you we are alive and well. And she has no regrets. She just got caught up in whatever she was saying and she also felt she had been misunderstood.” Continue reading Mick Fleetwood Open to Reunion With Lindsey Buckingham, Imagines Fleetwood Mac Farewell Tour | Rolling Stone

Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood says cocaine use left him with two-year memory gap | NME

Feb 5, 2021
Nick Reilly
NME Online

“I remember not working for two years. I can’t even remember what I did”

Mick Fleetwood (Picture: Getty)

Fleetwood Mac‘s Mick Fleetwood has revealed that he can’t remember two years of his life, after previously battling a heavy cocaine habit.

The drummer explained that there was a period “way after” making the iconic 1977 album ‘Rumours’ when he didn’t work for two years and has no recollection of his life during the period.

He told Classic Rock magazine: “There’s no doubt we were well equipped with the marching powder. That’s a well-worn fairytale that gets more like a war story, that gets more and more aggrandised.

I’m not minimalising the fact that we were definitely partaking in that lifestyle.

“But these weren’t a bunch of people crawling across the floor with green froth coming out of their mouths, we were working, you know?

“That went on for a long, long time, Stevie Nicks has addressed it, so I’m not divulging anything that she hasn’t spoken about. Continue reading Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood says cocaine use left him with two-year memory gap | NME

BMG buys Mick Fleetwood’s Royalties for an array of Fleetwood Mac hits – Including TikTok sensation Dreams

Music Business Worldwide

Once upon a time – from around 2008 to around 2015 – BMG was arguably the most acquisitive company in the music rights space.

That’s all changed in recent years, with BMG largely retreating from an M&A marketplace that has seen heavily-funded entrants such Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Round Hill, and Primary Wave keep on raising big money… and keep on spending it.

Indeed, MBW understands that it’s been nearly three years since BMG made a large-scale full acquisition in music rights. Instead, the company has switched its focus to organic growth, with positive results: after years of consecutive double-digit increases, BMG half-year revenues rose again to $308m in the first six months of the pandemic-hit 2020.

Today, though, BMG has announced its return to the acquisition table – and shown the music industry that it still has the resources to make serious music buyouts now and again.

Bertelsmann-owned BMG has confirmed that it has outright acquired Mick Fleetwood’s royalty interest in over 300 recordings, including all of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits.

An important distinction: this doesn’t mean BMG has acquired the underlying master rights to classic catalog albums like Rumours and Tango In The Night, which are owned by Warner Music Group.

However, it does mean that, from now on, whenever certain records by Fleetwood Mac make money, then BMG makes money. (The BMG acquisition includes Mick Fleetwood’s interest in all of Fleetwood Mac’s recorded works, apart from their first two albums.)

As a result, BMG will participate in the aftermath of the global viral success of Dreamson TikTok, which generated over 3.2 billion views/streams globally during an eight-week period in the second half of 2020.

Other Fleetwood Mac hits covered by the deal include recordings such as The Chain, Go Your Own Way, and Landslide from albums including Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977) and Tango In The Night (1987).

Today’s news continues something of a sell-off trend within Fleetwood Mac’s ranks: In December, Stevie Nicks sold an 80% stake in her publishing rights to Primary Wave for around $80m, while earlier this month, Lindsey Buckingham sold 100% of his song rights to Hipgnosis Songs Fund for an undisclosed fee. Continue reading BMG buys Mick Fleetwood’s Royalties for an array of Fleetwood Mac hits – Including TikTok sensation Dreams

Mick Fleetwood thinks it’s unlikely that Lindsey Buckingham will rejoin Fleetwood Mac | Metro UK

Patrick Dane
November 21, 2020
Metro UK

Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood has spoken about playing with former lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, calling the possibility a pipe dream.

The band’s de facto leader has said it’s unlikely that Lindsey Buckingham will return. (Picture: Getty Images)

Fleetwood Mac’s Mick Fleetwood has spoken about playing with former lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, calling the possibility a pipe dream.

Fleetwood, who founded the band in 1967, has acted as the de facto leader of the band since its inception. In a new interview, he talked about the messy breakup with Buckingham in 2018, saying that reunion will be unlikely.

Buckingham was notoriously fired from the group for a disagreement on the direction and scope of a tour, while a spat with band member Stevie Nicks has also been cited as reason for the departure.

The guitarist and singer then sued the band for a breach of oral contract, with the case eventually settled out of court.

Buckingham was later replaced by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. Continue reading Mick Fleetwood thinks it’s unlikely that Lindsey Buckingham will rejoin Fleetwood Mac | Metro UK

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

Mick Fleetwood’s All-Star Peter Green Tribute review — a ‘dream come true’ celebration | The Times

James Jackson
The Times

★★★★★

It’s not often that you get members of Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, the Who, Aerosmith, Metallica and Oasis jostling about on the same stage. In fact, this never happens. Except, that is, when it’s Mick Fleetwood organising a “dream come true” celebration of his onetime bandmate and mentor, Peter Green. The drummer clearly has quite an address book.

Former bandmates Mick Fleetwood and Jeremy Spencer on stage together for the first time in 50 years

It’s not just Fleetwood who reveres Green either. The Syd Barrett of blues burnt briefly but brilliantly in the late 1960s before LSD triggered mental collapse (Green is an elusive presence today, but by all accounts more content). As with the best guitarists, you could always hear something deeper in his playing, some indefinable evidence of a fragile soul.

No one could quite capture that magic, not even the top-tier musicians on this night, but several came close. Not least the former Mac member Rick Vito, who took charge of the breezy opening numbers Rollin’ Man and Homework. From there the star cavalcade began: Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top added a Texas shuffle to Doctor Brown, John Mayall gave some vocal welly to All Your Love (at 86 he still has the blues) and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith brought rock-star charisma to Rattlesnake Shake.

With respect to these luminaries, early on it was Jonny Lang’s earthy solo attacks and Vito’s slide-playing on Love That Burns that offered the most mesmeric moments — far more so than Noel Gallagher’s attempt at acoustic blues or even the windmilling Pete Townshend’s demonstration of the link between Won’t Get Fooled Again and Station Man. Continue reading Mick Fleetwood’s All-Star Peter Green Tribute review — a ‘dream come true’ celebration | The Times

Mick Fleetwood on His Peter Green Tribute Show, Future Plans, and Lindsey Buckingham | Rolling Stone

By Andy Green
Jan 28, 2020
Rolling Stone

“Lindsey’s legacy is alive and well, and as it should be,” says the drummer. “It will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us.”

phone via: Randee St. Nicholas

Mick Fleetwood should be relaxing. He just wrapped up a 13-month world tour — Fleetwood Mac’s first since parting ways with Lindsey Buckingham and replacing him with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn — but the 72-year-old drummer is already deep into planning his next project: a tribute concert to Peter Green, who co-founded Fleetwood Mac and wrote many of the group’s early classics before being sidelined by mental illness and addiction issues. The show is set for February 25th in London, with special guests David Gilmour, Christine McVie, John Mayall, and Steven Tyler. “I wanted people to know that I did not form this band — Peter Green did,” Fleetwood says. “And I wanted to celebrate those early years of Fleetwood Mac, which started this massive ball that went down the road over the last 50 years.”

Peter Green hasn’t been seen much in public over the past decade. When is the last time that you and he spoke?
It was about a year and a half ago. I went out with my girlfriend, and spent the day with him. He’s not the Peter that I knew, clearly. But he plays acoustic guitar. He loves painting, and fishing is his hobby. It’s no secret that he took a left turn and never came back, but he’s OK. He also has really little or no ego at all, which is unbelievable. You want to go, “Do you realize what you did?” “No, no. Yeah, I suppose so.” He has no ego about what he did. Continue reading Mick Fleetwood on His Peter Green Tribute Show, Future Plans, and Lindsey Buckingham | Rolling Stone