Photos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Louisville, KY October 10, 2018

Photos: Sam Upshaw Jr. / Courier Journal
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Fleetwood Mac Spokesperson Responds to Lindsey Buckingham Lawsuit

A spokesperson for Fleetwood Mac provided Rolling Stone with a statement on the lawsuit: “It’s

impossible for the band to offer comment on a legal complaint they have not seen. It’s fairly standard legal procedure to service the complaint to the parties involved, something that neither Mr. Buckingham nor his legal counsel have done. Which makes one wonder what the true motivations are when servicing press first with a legal complaint before the parties in dispute.”

- Rollingstone

Lindsey Buckingham has filed a lawsuit against Fleetwood Mac

Lindsey Buckingham Sues Fleetwood Mac Over Dismissal From Band
Musician alleges breach of fiduciary duty and breach of oral contract, among other charges, after firing earlier this year
By ANDY GREENE
Rollingstone

Photo: Ryan Pfluger for Rolling Stone

Lindsey Buckingham has filed a lawsuit against Fleetwood Mac for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, among other charges, according to legal documents obtained by Rolling Stone. The group parted ways with Buckingham in January and replaced him with Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Neil Finn of Crowded House. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, states that he asked the group to postpone their tour three months so he could play shows with his solo band. He says plans were in place for the Rumours-era lineup to play 60 shows across North America when he was let go without warning.

“This action is necessary to enforce Buckingham’s right to share in the economic opportunities he is entitled to as a member of the partnership created to operate the business of Fleetwood Mac,” the complaint states.

The complaint offers a detailed look at the buildup to Buckingham’s departure from the band, going back to late 2017 when the group began plotting a 2018/19 world tour. It claims that Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie wanted it to begin in August of this year, but Buckingham wanted it to start in November so he could tour behind his new solo release. When the others refused to delay the plans, the suit claims, he reluctantly agreed to postpone his album for a year to accommodate their wishes.

The suit alleges that a deal was made with Live Nation that would earn each member of the group an estimated $12 million to $14 million for 60 concerts. When Buckingham learned the group only wanted to play three shows a week, he asked permission to book his own shows during off-days. The band played the MusiCares benefit on January 26th, 2018 and two days later Buckingham learned they were carrying on without him.

Read the 28 page court filing at Rollingstone

Lindsey Buckingham Reveals The Truth Behind Being Fired From Fleetwood Mac

Lindsey Buckingham: Life After Fleetwood Mac
The singer-guitarist on his new anthology, solo tour and getting fired from the band he helped make famous

By DAVID FRICKE
Rollingstone

Lindsey Buckingham and his wife, Kristen, were at home in Los Angeles on January 28th, watching the Grammy Awards ceremony on television, when the phone rang. Fleetwood Mac’s manager Irving Azoff was calling with a message for Buckingham from Stevie Nicks. The gist of it, Buckingham says, quoting Azoff: “Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again.”

Two nights earlier, the most popular and enduring lineup of Fleetwood Mac — Nicks, Buckingham, singer-keyboard player Christine McVie, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood — performed in New York at a MusiCares benefit show honoring the group. “We rehearsed for two days, and everything was great,” Buckingham claims. “We were getting along great.”

But on the phone, Azoff had a list of things that, as Buckingham puts it, “Stevie took issue with” that evening, including the guitarist’s outburst just before the band’s set over the intro music — the studio recording of Nicks’ “Rhiannon” — and the way he “smirked” during Nicks’ thank-you speech. Buckingham concedes the first point. “It wasn’t about it being ‘Rhiannon,’ ” he says. “It just undermined the impact of our entrance. That’s me being very specific about the right and wrong way to do something.”

As for smirking, “The irony is that we have this standing joke that Stevie, when she talks, goes on a long time,” Buckingham says. “I may or may not have smirked. But I look over and Christine and Mick are doing the waltz behind her as a joke.”

At the end of that call, Buckingham assumed Nicks was quitting Fleetwood Mac. He wrote an e-mail to Fleetwood assuring the drummer that the group could continue. There was no reply. A couple of days later, Buckingham says, “I called Irving and said, ‘This feels funny. Is Stevie leaving the band, or am I getting kicked out?’ ” Azoff told the guitarist he was “getting ousted” and that Nicks gave the rest of the band “an ultimatum: Either you go or she’s gonna go.”

Asked if those were Azoff’s exact words, Buckingham responds, “Pretty much. I don’t remember his exact words, but that was the message.” In April, Fleetwood Mac announced a major North American tour with two new guitarists: Neil Finn, formerly of Crowded House, and Mike Campbell, from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Azoff and the other members of Fleetwood Mac declined to comment for this story on Buckingham’s account of his dismissal. But in April, Fleetwood — who co-founded the group in 1967 with original guitarist Peter Green — told Rolling Stone that the band hit an “impasse” with Buckingham. “This was not a happy situation for us in terms of the logistics of a functioning band.” The drummer did not elaborate but said, “We made a decision that we could not go on with him.”

Nicks — Buckingham’s romantic and musical partner when the two joined the Mac in 1975 — cited a disagreement over tour plans, saying Buckingham wanted too much time off for solo work. But, she added, “Our relationship has always been volatile. We were never married, but we might as well have been. Some couples get divorced after 40 years. They break their kids’ hearts and destroy everyone around them because it’s just hard.”

Buckingham confirms that, at a band meeting in late 2017 — shortly after a series of shows with McVie to promote their project, Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie — he asked for “three or four months extra” to do solo dates. There was “stonewalling,” he claims. “I left the meeting because there was nothing else to talk about.”

But he insists that Fleetwood Mac always “came first. And I don’t think there was ever anything that was just cause to be fired. We have all done things that were not constructive. All of us have worn on each other’s psyches at times. That’s the history of the group.”

It is a warm late-summer morning, and Buckingham, who turned 69 on October 3rd, is sitting on the patio behind his house in a hilly neighborhood in West Los Angeles, giving his version — on the record for the first time — of his exit from Fleetwood Mac. Later in the day, he will rehearse with his own band for a fall tour to promote Solo Anthology: The Best of Lindsey Buckingham, a compilation drawn from records he has made outside the Mac since the early Eighties. The guitarist had completed a new solo album, tentatively called Blue Light, when he was cut loose. It will come out next year.

“Am I heartbroken about not doing another tour with Fleetwood Mac? No,” Buckingham says, “because I can see that there are many other areas to look into.” But, he goes on, “The one thing that does bother me and breaks my heart is we spent 43 years always finding a way to rise above our personal differences and our difficulties to pursue and articulate a higher truth. That is our legacy. That is what the songs are about. This is not the way you end something like this.”

Buckingham says he tried to contact Nicks, without success. On February 28th, a month after first writing to Fleetwood, Buckingham sent the drummer another e-mail expressing those sentiments and his frustration with the band’s “radio silence.” There was no response. Since their last show together, at MusiCares, Buckingham has not spoken to any of his former bandmates.

On September 5th, Fleetwood Mac’s new lineup made its television debut on Ellen. Buckingham did not watch it. His wife did. “I was just sad,” Kristen says. “I was thinking, ‘How did they get here?’ ” Kristen and Lindsey met in 1996, not long before the guitarist — who quit Fleetwood Mac in 1987 — rejoined, leading to the 1997 live reunion album, The Dance. “Even though we didn’t see them very often,” Kristen says of the other members, “it was still a family of sorts.” The Buckinghams’ three children “called them aunts and uncles.”

It is still a small world. But it has become awkward. The husband of Lindsey’s niece is a drum technician on Fleetwood Mac’s road crew. Buckingham’s advice to him: “Mick is still a great guy. Don’t be anything other than a centered, grounded person for him. Do your job well.” Also, John McVie and the Buckinghams are neighbors. The bassist’s home is “literally 300 yards from here,” the guitarist says, pointing through his house to the other side of the street.

Kristen recently ran into John’s wife, Julie, at a local nail salon. “My heart sank a bit,” Kristen says. “She said hello. I asked about her daughter — it was neutral ground.” But when Julie mentioned the tour, “She must have seen my face: ‘Oh, how is Lindsey doing?’ I didn’t want to sugarcoat it. I just said, ‘You know, not great.’ ”

“I had a visceral reaction to it for a long time,” Buckingham says, “completely hurt. I’d be fine for a while, and then it would come back.” He was also “disappointed” in what he calls “the disproportion in what happened and anything you can put on me in terms of behavior and the scale of what went on.”

Buckingham is not the first member of Fleetwood Mac to be fired. Guitarist Danny Kirwan was canned by Fleetwood in 1972 for alcoholism and violent behavior. (Kirwan died in June.) In 1973, singer Bob Weston got his pink slip after he had an affair with Fleetwood’s then-wife. Buckingham, in turn, has a long-standing reputation as a hard case, uncompromising and quick to ignite. He took over Fleetwood Mac’s musical direction after the megaplatinum sales of the group’s 1977 album, Rumours, pushing for the New Wave risk of 1979’s Tusk. After that record’s muted success, the guitarist made his first solo album, 1981’s Law and Order, because, he says, “I was pissed off” at what he saw as the band’s creative retreat. “Was I biting the hand that fed me? Oh, yeah.”

Kristen acknowledges that Lindsey was “definitely edgier when I met him,” adding that marriage and fatherhood “softened” that. Still, she admits, “He’s always been a prickly guy. That’s the truth.”

Practicing for his solo tour at a studio in Burbank, Buckingham is relaxed and chatty as he runs down the opening numbers in a 23-song set list with two members of his band, keyboard player Brett Tuggle and bassist Federico Pol. (Drummer Jimmy Paxson will arrive in a few days.) Buckingham is also focused on the details in the music, singing with his eyes shut tight in concentration and looking intently at his guitar as he picks the Bach-like introduction of “Don’t Look Down,” from 1992’s Out of the Cradle.

Buckingham is literally a solo artist in that he records mostly at home, singing and playing virtually all of the parts, and he is an obvious perfectionist in rehearsal as he stops songs to resolve the timing of a part or the volume in his monitors. It is easy to see how, in a historically dysfunctional setting like Fleetwood Mac, that kind of intensity could spill over into dissension and stalemate.

Ironically, when Buckingham starts his solo tour in early October, in Portland, Oregon, it is within days of the new Fleetwood Mac’s opening night, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The latter are playing arenas into next spring. Buckingham is appearing in theaters such as New York’s Town Hall. “That’s the story of my solo work: You lose nine-tenths of the listeners,” Buckingham concedes. The set list he rehearses in Burbank includes songs that he could be playing with Fleetwood Mac right now: “Big Love,” “Tusk,” “Go Your Own Way.” But the encores are from solo albums. One, from 2008’s Gift of Screws, is called “Treason.”

“It is not my place or intent to open that door,” Buckingham says of his former band. “I’ve done my best to reach out to them.” He has not “technically closed the book on anything. Nor would I. But I am not planning that anything will change from what it is now.”

Buckingham knows there will be moments on his solo tour, backstage, when well-meaning fans will hand him a copy of Rumours to sign. And “that’s OK,” he says. “Somebody handing me Rumours has no effect on anything more than it ever would have. It is just an affirmation that we’ve done our job right.”

STEVIE NICKS Nominated For Induction Into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame!

Stevie Nicks, The Cure Among 15 Acts Nominated For Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2019 nominees on Tuesday, and in what has become an annual tradition, the list came with the Hall's usual heap of opacity and a dash of acrimony.

One nominee has already been inducted, two are receiving their fifth nominations, and one previously said it would decline the honor before changing its, ahem, tune on Tuesday morning.

Stevie Nicks is nominated for induction for the first time as a solo artist, having previously been welcomed into the Rock Hall in 1998 as a member of legendary rock group Fleetwood Mac. If she makes the cut when the 2019 class is announced in December, Nicks will become the first female artist to join the Hall a second time. 

Starting Oct. 9, the public can visit rockhall.com/fanvote to cast their votes for who they would like to see in the Class of 2019. Voting ends Dec. 9 and the top-five artists will make up a fan's ballot, which counts as a single vote. 

VOTE: Go to rockhall.com/vanvote for fan vote. You can vote once per day.  Below are some early stats as of this posting... But it's early, we gotta stay on top of this.

In alphabetical order, this year's nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are:

• The Cure (second nomination)
• Def Leppard (first nomination)
• Devo (first nomination)
• Janet Jackson (third nomination)
• John Prine (first nomination)
• Kraftwerk (fifth nomination)
• LL Cool J (fifth nomination)
• MC5 (fourth nomination)
• Radiohead (second nomination)
• Rage Against the Machine (second nomination)
• Roxy Music (first nomination)
• Rufus & Chaka Khan (third nomination)
• Stevie Nicks (already an inductee with Fleetwood Mac, but first solo nomination)
• Todd Rundgren (first nomination)
• The Zombies (fourth nomination)

REVIEW Fleetwood Mac Live in Grand Rapids, MI October 8, 2018

Fleetwood Mac finds Lindsey-less groove with hits, rare cuts and more in Grand Rapids
by John Sinkevics
Local Spins

The superstar classic rock band flaunted its new lineup in an intriguing, early-tour show at Van Andel Arena.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Fleetwood Mac did not allow media outlets to photograph Monday night’s concert.

Anyone who’s seen Fleetwood Mac previously or followed the soap opera that the band has laid bare over the years knows that Monday night’s concert at Van Andel Arena – just the third stop on the group’s talked-about 2018 tour – was really all about Lindsey Buckingham.

And he wasn’t even there.

His much-publicized falling out with other band members over this very tour led Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie to carry on without the prodigious guitarist and singer, replacing him with not one, but two, other well-known musicians: guitarist Mike Campbell from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and singer-guitarist Neil Finn from Crowded House/Split Enz.

It makes 1977’s “Go Your Own Way” sound prophetic, eh?

Of course, that doesn’t sit well with some fans of the superstar band and even the Chicago Tribune’s recent headline blared “Fakewood Mac?” prior to the group’s show at the United Center on Saturday.

I’m not in that camp. As much as I revere Buckingham’s work, I found all of this actually made this tour more tantalizing – a must-see event.

Having reviewed Fleetwood Mac on numerous occasions (and the past few times without Christine McVie who finally came out of retirement four years ago), I viewed the selection of Campbell and Finn as brilliant. These guys are respected artists I’ve never regarded as mere sidemen – or in this case, “Second Hand News” – but rather as influential music icons of the 1970s and 1980s. Having Christine McVie back on keys and vocals was another bonus.

AN ECLECTIC SET LIST AND A PETTY TRIBUTE

Plus, let’s face it, tons of classic bands are touring without key members these days, right? (See: Journey, Foreigner, The Eagles.)

Still, the burning question of the evening: How would this band fare without Buckingham?

Folks, I’m here to tell you that while Buckingham’s singing and stage presence certainly were missed at certain junctures of the evening, this iteration of Fleetwood Mac did nothing to tarnish the legacy of this enduring band and actually provided an intriguing twist on its own catalog and a few others – something that wouldn’t have taken place if he was on board.

Monday’s two-and-a-half-hour show wasn’t a sellout, but the thousands of West Michigan fans who bought the pricey tickets and cheered their heroes on were treated to a set list that was far different than the one the band sported the last time it played Van Andel Arena:

• Invigorating renditions of early-era Fleetwood Mac, including 1969’s “Oh Well” (Peter Green) and 1973’s “Hypnotized” (Bob Welch);

• Nicks and Campbell tearing up “Free Falling” in a poignant encore tribute to Petty, complete with photos of the late rock star on the video screen behind the band;

• Finn getting chance to rock an arena crowd with the Split Enz’s 1979 hit, “I Got You,” and Crowded House’s 1986 gem, “Don’t Dream It’s Over.”

On those classic Fleetwood Mac numbers that fans revere, Nicks sounded as crisp as ever (“Rhiannon,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Dreams,” “Landslide”), Christine McVie provided the group’s upbeat, uplifting charm even if her vocals seemed understated at times (“Little Lies,” “You Make Loving Fun,” “Everywhere”), Fleetwood at 71 continued to provide that eccentric, wildman robustness (his solos are always smile-inducing) and John McVie was, as always, the reserved “backbone” of the band (as Fleetwood put it).

ADMIRABLE FILL-INS AND FUZZY NOSTALGIA

Musically, the rhythm section has barely changed an iota, and considering all the lineup changes they’ve seen over the past five decades, these two guys I’m sure appreciate and revel in the opportunity to jam with a couple of new players.

Indeed, the band threw caution to the wind from the get-go, allowing Finn to charge out of the box vocally on the first song of the night, “The Chain.” And while he doesn’t quite have Buckingham’s timbre, the singer managed his parts remarkably well throughout the night.

Campbell, meanwhile, seemed to revel in the opportunity to crank out those trademark Buckingham leads, and also shined masterfully — and perhaps more confidently — on pre-Buckingham material like “Oh Well” and “Hypnotized.” Considering Nicks’ longtime musical relationship with Petty and the Heartbreakers, it seemed apropos that Campbell was tabbed for this tour.

To be sure, with only three concerts under their belts, this lineup – which also features another percussionist, keyboard player, guitarist and two backing singers – is still trying to find its comfort level, so some songs on Monday were stronger than others, with a few minor missteps vocally. And the band stuck with the script, playing essentially the same set list unfurled in Chicago.

But it’s also unfair to paint this as somehow inauthentic. Instead, it was refreshingly different at times, often intriguing, powerfully entertaining and filled with the sort of fuzzy nostalgia that fans crave.

“Thank you for being with us on this journey, and it is the beginning,” Nicks told the crowd early on, referring to the North American tour that runs through early April.

More than 50 years after forming, some might suggest it’s actually the beginning of the end for Fleetwood Mac. If so, it was a fitting swan song for Grand Rapids fans.