Fleetwood Mac founder Mick Fleetwood fears the supergroup will never tour again because bandmate Stevie Nicks won't give up her latest solo dream.
The drummer reveals he and his bandmates were preparing for a major world trek in 2010 but then Nicks announced she was releasing a solo album and the plans stalled.
Two years later and Nicks is still touring on the back of her 2011 release, In Dreams, and has tour dates with Rod Stewart scheduled.
And Fleetwood, who performed on his bandmate's latest solo album, thinks the moment for a reunion tour has passed.
He tells Playboy magazine, "I don't believe Fleetwood Mac will ever tour again, but I really hope we do. We have rehearsed and prepared for it since 2010. We were supposed to tour in 2011, but we delayed it for a year to allow Stevie Nicks to support her solo record and for Lindsey Buckingham to do the same with his.
"I've always been supportive of my bandmates doing solo albums, so long as we kept our band together... I played drums on most of Stevie's album, the one she is still out there supporting and the one that is the reason that, for now, she refuses to do a Fleetwood Mac tour. It comes down to her.
"Stevie is really proud of her new album, and I get that, but she will not let it go... She's insistent upon working it (album) until it is incapable of growing further.
"I understand what she likes about her situation: Touring in support of her album, she is able to be her, without any degree of compromise. She doesn't have to worry about the other three of us asking her to do anything... She has become obsessed with her album in a very nice but inconvenient way."
KVOS.com[update] Read the full Playboy Interview where Micks statement is taken from
[Stevie said in December, 2011 live in a radio interview, while in Tasmania, when asked about Fleetwood Mac touring in 2012 - she said that she wasn't finished with her album and touring and wanted to continue on in 2012. She also said she had a couple of other projects she wanted to do first and that Fleetwood Mac would happen in 2013. So it should come as no surprise to Mick if Stevie books dates on the road this year.]
Stick to your guns Stevie! There are many fans out there that still haven't had the chance of seeing the IYD material live (include myself). Fleetwood Mac in 2013 is the plan, yay!!
ReplyDeleteA tour means nothing without new music. So when are they recording should be the question. IYD was fresh. I can't be the only fan who wants a new album. The last was 2003 and that is way too long ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It would be silly of Stevie put aside an album that she has a passion for to do another passionless greatest hits tour with Fleetwood Mac. I saw Stevie on the solo leg of the IYD tour and she was the most engaging I've seen her in years. Without a new album it is POINTLESS for Fleetwood Mac to tour...Rumours resergence or not.
ReplyDeleteI bet Mick's comments were taken out of context to some degree. He's too successful and too dear a friend to be spewing sour grapes! IYD is on a steady burn as listeners discover new depth and sense another set of songs with major staying power. There's been a lot of fan chatter about a solo tour too, so Stevie's wise to get pumped up by her base before her tour with Rod goes out. can't wait!
ReplyDeleteGood riddance Fleetwood Mac. Sorry, but its not the same without Christine. There is not going to be a new album, so what is the point. Oh I know, what the point is -- Mick wants money. He has always been money-hungry and he realizes this may be Fleetwood Mac's last chance. Tough luck. Let her support her album in piece.
ReplyDeleteRock on Stevie!! Stay with IYD tour to let the world know how amazing this album really is. How about a trip to Canada without Rod Stewart this time???
ReplyDeleteI find it very hard to believe that Mick would be so nasty in his comments, especially about Stevie. What difference does it make if Fleetwood Mac waits one more year and tours in 2013 anyway? And since they toured in 2009, I doubt they would have sold out many venues if they toured the very next year. They always need to wait a few years between tours.
ReplyDeleteIf Mick really said these things then he is getting really snide in his old age. Let's hope he did not.
Whoa....Wait...Lindsey is booking shows right and left. Why isn't Mick as upset with Lindsey? They all knew she was going to run this tour until she or it dropped..it's the business...it's what you have to do. Not that thrilled with her touring with Rod again but so be it (yes I saw the H & S show). Mick's just disappointed and yes FM will probably come around in 2013, what's one more year.. it won't make or break FM to wait one more year. For us, it's getting to see Stevie this year and possibly Lindsey and FM next year...so, it's alllll gooooood!!! I love everything each and/or all put out in the way of music. THEY ROCK!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIf Fleetwood Mac never tours again - and I hope that isn't true - then how about bringing Christine back in for a full-on studio extravaganza? She offered to be on SAY YOU WILL - but only in the studio. The band thought that idea was impracticable but now maybe not so. There's also the possibility of a Buckingham-Nicks reunion (re-release the album and tour behind it, maybe with an brand-new EP) that probably really irks Mick because it's completely outside the scope of FM. Anyway - if this is REAL turmoil and not just misquotes/out-of-context baloney, one must remember this IS Fleetwood Mac, after all. I too am not excited about a tour without a new album. Not with Stevie and Lindsey still so amazingly vital and creative. And isn't Mick preoccupied with his restaurant? Maybe HE should take the year to honor HIS commitments instead of running off to play rock star. Stevie has every right to keep on with IYD. It's not her fault that certain of the men in Fleetwood Mac are financially irresponsible. Stevie and Lindsey have bailed Mick out enough at this point - doing albums and tours they didn't necessarily want to do at a given time because Mick was flat broke. And remember he has no hesitation to trash the band's name to keep up his lifestyle (remember TIME?) - maybe he'll tour with Billy and Bekka - ugh! I'll stop now - being too mean to Mick....
ReplyDeleteIf he's worried about money, maybe he could charge his fans another $1,000 a piece for his autograph? He should be able to live off 3 grand until Stevie's ready . Maybe he work on getting the much-promised Rumours anniversary edition on the shelves or remasters of the other FM work. Or maybe he's too busy with his vinyard or restaurant to actually work on something that doesn't benefit just him.
ReplyDelete^^^^^^^^^^
ReplyDeleteAMEN!!!!
Surprising...thought they were really close friends...btw Lindsey's touring too....
ReplyDeleteI, too, would love to see a tour with a new album...LOVED Say You Will and the tour that followed. That would be better than just going out again with the same songs....Also, in response to Mick trying to make money - still would love to see both the Mirage concert and the TUSK documentary released on DVD.....as a package that could really sell!!
ReplyDeleteI know how easily reporters spin these things, but PLEASE--I can TOTALLY see Mick being this snide and agitated at Stevie.
ReplyDeleteHe's not such a near and dear friend that he wouldn't say stuff this like with his tattered semi-managerial hat on. Would be a different story if he did a Don Henley, and talked about stuff he shouldn't of...which is something i'm sure he never do (now).
Of course I'd love a new album, of course I'd love a new album with Chris, and of course I'd love a new album and tour with Chris, BUT WHO CARES!! I WANT THEM TO TOUR PERIOD. I'll pay to see them play even their shittiest songs ANY DAY.
...and in the meantime you can catch me at Stevie and Linds' solo shows F-YEA!
g&b
G&B I agree, just tour, who cares if they sing their crappiest songs, I justs want to see them!
ReplyDeleteMick Fleetwood is graceless. Stevie did not commit or agree to anything because no firm offer existed. She's been giving it to her fans MAJORLY for the past year: Two tours, all the new songs, four music videos, a documentary on the way, all the network TV appearances, Oprah, amazing wind-swept performance at Sturgis, etc. Mick needs to act like a so called manager and keep band business behind the scenes where it belongs. All he's doing is encouraging fans to debate tired FM arguements. He's done NOTHING for dedicated fans except charge for his autograph at over-priced meet & greets. He hasn't made good on his commitments to remaster, release, compile FM archival material, etc. Stevie is finally back to wearing nice boots instead of the awful orthepic hightop sneakers she was forced to wear from carrying Mick on her back for the past 20 years.
ReplyDeleteYa know Mick is just pi_ssed that she's not making him any money when he wants her to. I'm sure the article is a little embellished, but he has screwed her before literally and figuritivly. His tell all autobiography, Silver Springs, just to name two. I haven't seen her as happy and full of energy as I have on this last tour. The double standard Mick and John to some extent is crazy. Not to throw Lindsey under the bus but he was the one who left before a booked tour, he was left alone for his solo project and Mick lets that slide for the most part. Stevie and Lindsey have paid their debts to Mick and carried him for the past 15 plus years. Rock on Stevie, sure up your solo legacy. You've worked way to hard since 1981 running back and forth between solo and the Mac, always putting The Mac first. You deserve to receive your props for your solo work. Mick is probably just broke again......
ReplyDeleteNot interested in another GH Fleetwood Mac "reunion" tour!! In Your Dreams is not even a year old! Stevie has every right to continue to tour behind her best record in decades! Even though I'm not overly esctatic about the Rod H & S pairing again, Stevie has earned the right to do what makes her happy, esp at her age. Screw FM! If they are not working together creatively to put out new material/album, I'd rather see Stevie sing her brilliant new songs along with her classics PERIOD!
ReplyDeleteGO Stevie.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would LOVE a brand NEW Mac album, Stevie seems so happy and free!! Just wish that new tour featured a SOLO concert in Oregon???
So GO STEVIE!!!
Mick is forgetting that Stevie was first approached in December of 2009 to tour with The Eagles beginning in the spring of 2010- she was still finishin up the last dates in...um, the country near Australia but a different country- brain freeze, sorry. So, she had toured most of 2009 doing the ho-hum 'Unleashed' tour and she had the good taste and bal*ls to say 'no no no!' to reprising another, yawn, stale Fleetwood Mac tour as opening act or co-headliner with The Eagles on THAT lousy tour- that took integrity on SN's part- she ''likes money'' as much as Mick. She did NOT rehearse with Fleetwood Mac at all, for a tour in 2010, she began work on 'IYD' in very short time after she turned down the bloated Eagles bill.
ReplyDeleteMick played on her album- he got paid. Union rules and all. Maybe Stevie will hire him to play drums on the dates she plays with Rod, and he can get triple scale or whatever- she pays her band well... As almost everyone says, without new music, and music that reaches a big audience and sells at least fairly well, a Fleetwood Mac tour would be: a) kind of boring and a rehash and b) a hard sell to promoters, because the Unleashed tour was lucrative for the band, but middling, at best, for the promoter- there was only one show that was a sell-out. Not good. There's a reason SN is happy to tour with Rod Stewart- she gets her price, Rod plays to arena crowds and sells out his dates, and she can do what she wants.
Be nice, Mick, and support SN's live dates, and she just may throw you a bone. Only Christine McVie would make it a true 'reunion' tour anyway- and what's the reunion bull that Mick's talking about?? In 2009, FMac played many dates, in the US and worldwide, and the final dates in 'not Australia' were far from sell-outs- then Nicks began work on 'IYD'- so he or the author have some basic facts wrong- hard to have a reunion just as you've finished a long and redundant tour.
Go Stevie! SING the TITLE SONG at every danged concert, or it's not getting 'In Your Dreams' into people's heads. Don't cut it out of the set anymore! And do 'Wide Sargasso Sea' and make 'Italian Summer' your final song of the night- rest in peace 'Love Is'- do the 'hard' songs on the concert dates, and your very good cd could find a bigger audience!
Best Wishes. Mick should send SN flowers and ask to drum on her tour dates supporting her' dream' album - she done an awful lot for him and his finances and musical legacy ever since 1975.
Bribe Christine, and get her for 2013, and then ya' have a ''reunion'' audiences haven't seen since 1997-98! And new songs!! Or different ones!
^
ReplyDeleteNEW ZEALAND, rambler :)
I support the pro-Stevie sentiment and I agree completely. No matter how you spin it, it's just never go to be Fleetwood Mac without Christine. 99% of people I talk to can't stand Lindsey's self-righteous fake "I'm at peace" scripted diatribes when he is so clearly uncontrollably jealous of Stevie. We just don't buy it Lindsey, even Ken Caillat said it, you are unhappy, and you bring down the fun level big time. Plus, Stevie without Christine is miserable, you can see it in her face and performance. Also, I agree with the above poster - Lindsey left before the Tango tour yet Stevie gets it for this?
ReplyDeleteLook at the audience, people leave when Lindsey guitar-masturbates for 30 minutes at a time, people come back for Stevie, and they don't play the Chris hits.
We miss and love you Chris, come back, and make it all in balance again!!!!!
Clearly this stupid Mick interview for Playboy - which he shouldn't have done - is rattling the Fleetwood Mac community. The bottom line is that Mick needs Stevie and Lindsey at this point far more than they need him. This is NOT a Stevie vs. FM argument going on - it's a Buckingham/Nicks vs. Fleetwood Mac situation - with Fleetwood Mac - minus Christine - clearly losing out. Stevie and Lindsey are tired of Mick's drama. Sure, he made them stars all those years ago - and they're such honorable people that they've been almost irrationally loyal to him - but enough is enough. You are Stevie Nicks. You just finished the greatest album of your career - in an incredible career - so you want to A) record an album (fight with Lindsey for one year) and then B) embark on a worldwide tour (fight with Lindsey for another year) - all so Mick can keep his house in Hawaii. And by the time it's all over you'll be 65. NO!!!! Stand up to him Stevie - don't do it. The only person who can solve this stalemate is Christine - and she's made it clear she's done. R.I.P. Fleetwood Mac. I'm so depressed....
ReplyDeleteThey all need each other. Each member is just as important including Christine! And we need a Stevie date here in Southern California. Health permitting. A new Mac album would be nice but if they can't play nice and Stevie was seeming so happy well.... Just hope she can find that happiness again seeing her mother just past away.
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope Micks comments were taken out of context and exaggerated for the sake of peace within the band. Lindsey has been VERY understanding and supportive as he knows how important this body of work is to Stevie. Plus at 63, will there be another solo record for her. Both she and Lindsey are on a creative high, which can only enrich any future project the Mac produces, should there be one. Stevie has been a loyal soldier through the years..and "always on call"...support her in this, her finest hour. Lastly, a tour without new material fresh off the "Unleashed Tour" offers no incentive for us fans during these economic hard times to hear the same old songs sang and delivered as dispassionately as has been done of late. Do your thing Stevie, stick to your guns, we the fans get it and support you and Lindsey! Chill out Mick...respectfully.
ReplyDeleteWow,good luck Mick getting a tour together after all that trash talking! All the FM albums have been selling all year due to Stevie and Lindsey being in the media spotlight. I guess since he's not a writer, he doesn't get much royalties compated to Stevie and Lindsey. Talk about bitter, Mick for a tall guy, you are lookin mighty small right now.
ReplyDeleteWhere we're the Mac without controversy?
ReplyDeleteA Mac tour will happen that's inevitable ,
& something to savour :-)
Stevie continues to tour? She always has & always will.
Lindsey is touring c'est la vie :-)
It's a blessing that these artists are still valid today :-)
Rock & roll never dies.....fm 2013 is a given!
Love that a second round of Rod Stewart dates somehow equates to "Stevie loves touring for her new album". She does one freaking IYD song a night. What a joke. Pity that Mick was too classy to point that out.
ReplyDeleteThis time it's just too bad, Mick. Stevie gave up her best potential for a full-fledged solo career for Fleetwood Mac because she was way too loyalto YOUR band. And you've never let her forget it's YOUR band, either, huh?
ReplyDeleteOh God, Mick Fleetwood and his greedy rude mouth!, Lindsey Buckingham has not been quoted as saying he has lost patience with Stevie Nicks. Only Mick Fleetwood has stated this. In fact, Lindsey is also currently touring this year in support of his own solo album, so it isn't just Stevie Nicks who is touring solo this year. Stevie Nicks has had a concurrent solo career since 1981 while also staying a member of Fleetwood Mac. A very accomplished solo career I might add, with 5 platinum and 8 gold certified solo albums to her credit and over 14 top 40 hit solo singles. Her most recent solo album, "In your dreams" released last May entered at #6 on the Billboard album chart and has produced 2 hit singles so far and is critically rated as one of her finest solo albums to date. Stevie last toured with Fleetwood Mac in 2009 and both she and Lindsey have stated they would return to Fleetwood Mac in 2013 after they finish promoting and touring their solo efforts.So why Mick Fleetwood is slamming her in interviews is beyond me! It's rude, unprofessional and cringe worthy. Over the years, when Mick had his bankrupt and money problems, Stevie Nicks always threw him a bone in regards to letting him tour with her, play on her solo efforts and what not. Stevie could have long ago quit Fleetwood Mac and stayed a solo artist, but she remained loyal to the band. Lindsey Buckingham, however quit the band after their "Tango in the Night" album released in 1987 and the band had to hire two guitarists to tour that album. Lindsey reunited with the band in 1997. So saying Lindsey normally doesn't have band issues is false. I think it's wonderful that Stevie Nicks is enjoying success with her new solo album, and is touring behind it extensively, and performing many new songs for her legions of devoted fans that have stuck with her for all these years instead of cutting it short and going back to Fleetwood Mac to play another round of old greatest hits with them. That can wait until next year, and Mick Fleetwood knows this. It won't make a big difference, and him stating he wants his ten million dollars for his part in a new tour is disgusting and I feel no pity for this rich old rocker as many of us normal folks suffer in one of the worst recessions in history. Obviously, Mick Fleetwood cares more about the money than the art of his music. I think it's pretty damn cool that Stevie Nicks is at such a creative and artistic high at age 63, with her new album of wonderful songs that fans and critics alike have praised this past year. It's also cool how she wants to tour behind this album to promote it, performing new music, and not simply taking the easy route and doing another Fleetwood Mac greatest Hits tour this year. Why can't Stevie enjoy performing her new music this year and then go to Fleetwood Mac next year? So Mick won't cry and whine like a big spoiled baby to the press? I don't think so! Man up, Mick. We don't want to hear you grumble about wanting more millions of dollars. That really makes me lose much respect for him. And I wouldn't blame Stevie if she decided not to NOT go back to Fleetwood Mac after he keeps slamming her in these interviews. Stevie has always been fair to you Mick! Let Stevie enjoy her time right now. Maybe she prefers to creating and performing new music right now instead of regulating herself as an oldies artist, unlike you, as you sound like you want a money grab above anything else. Really tasteless, Mr. Fleetwood. Shame on you!
ReplyDeleteTo the anon who said this:
ReplyDelete"I support the pro-Stevie sentiment and I agree completely. No matter how you spin it, it's just never go to be Fleetwood Mac without Christine. 99% of people I talk to can't stand Lindsey's self-righteous fake "I'm at peace" scripted diatribes when he is so clearly uncontrollably jealous of Stevie. We just don't buy it Lindsey, even Ken Caillat said it, you are unhappy, and you bring down the fun level big time. Plus, Stevie without Christine is miserable, you can see it in her face and performance. Also, I agree with the above poster - Lindsey left before the Tango tour yet Stevie gets it for this?
Look at the audience, people leave when Lindsey guitar-masturbates for 30 minutes at a time, people come back for Stevie, and they don't play the Chris hits."
You are such an instigator. This article is about MICK and HIS problems with Stevie, not LINDSEY and his problems- and you know why? Because Lindsey doesn't have any issues. He's happy for Stevie to be able to release this album and support it. He has been nothing but SUPPORTIVE of her. Stop trying to spin this in a way to make Lindsey look bad. If anyone sounds jealous it is YOU. Lindsey Buckingham is a national treasure and his last album and the one before it have been gems. So he doesn't have Stevie's fanbase or popularity- that, in the end, doesn't diminish his credibility and genius. He doesn't deserve people like YOU dragging him through the mud.
And for your info, it was through seeing Lindsey on the Say You Will tour that I became a die-hard fan of his. I came in more a Stevie fan than any of the others (but I loved the whole band), and he mesmerized me so much with his energy, charisma, and unbelievable guitar playing that I had to hear more. So maybe *some* people who didn't care for the solos (which weren't 30 minutes) missed out, but he gained a lot of fans through his awesome performances on the SYW tour, and that is a FACT.
Now, the point of the article: Stevie should be able to tour behind her material, but I will not hate on Mick. I think he expected something of a commitment, but you know what, sometimes those fall through...I think they will be ok. I have faith that it was either a little rant taken out of context, or him blowing off steam. He's a good guy and I have nothing bad to say about him.
Thank you.
^"Lindsey Buckingham is a national treasure''--
ReplyDeleteNice thought, but someone needs to inform the nation of this! Or the media who often spell his name as LindSAY.
I agree that he has loads of talent, he's great, but 'national treasure' has never once been used by anyone other than you, and likely never will be, to describe the musician.
Magazines listing him regularly in their endless lists of greatest guitarists is deserved, but hasn't happened. I liked your statements, but the 'national treasure' bit is so delusional it weakens all of the good points you made- i don't think many 'chiffon-heads' would go so far as to call SN 'a national treasure' and to call Lindsey that is just laughable! You like him, I like him, others do, too. That's it.
Interesting post rambling about national treasure wording. You claim you like Lindsey... but if this is the first time you've heard Lindsey being called national treasure, you obviously never saw his solo live show.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm I don't really believe FM were planning for World tour in 2010 when they had only just come off the road in 2009 - I last saw them in London in October 2009. No group finishes a World tour then plans to go straight back on the road. And why? With no new album to promote it would be a pointless exercise. I'm not remotely interested in seeing another greatest hits tour, been there, done that. as usual its all about the money with Mick Fleetwood. He should have been more careful with his monsy in the 70's and 80's like Lindsey and Stevie instead of blowing it on dodgy investments. If stevie can get another 12 months out of her album good luck to her, she's still not toured Europe.
ReplyDeleteI'm fed up with waiting, it bores me to death. if stevie and lindsey work with fleetwood mac it strongly occurs to me the only reason they do so is to get a lot of money in in order to support their solo albums. i do not like stevie's latest effort, trouble in shangrila was a much better album i think.
ReplyDeletethe moment they lost chris something was happening to the band much more than losing their best songwriter and singer. chris was the heart of the band. maybe stevie doesn't like to be part of the chris-less mac.
stevie needs to do what makes her happy, and mick needs to stop whining, I swear..stevie should be allowed to do what she wants,her mom passed away, let her get back out on the road and actually enjoy in your dreams, the fans love her, she's a hard worker and she has a beautiful voice and amazing talent. so go on girl
ReplyDelete