The last few years have been tough for Fleetwood Mac, and that’s really saying something for a band that has pretty much endured constant in-fighting since its inception. In April of 2018, the band fired Lindsey Buckingham just before embarking on a big tour, and while no justification was given, Buckingham later guessed that it was because Stevie Nicks was mad at him for the way he had “smirked” when she was making a speech at a recent show and how he didn’t like the fact that they were all introduced to “Rhiannon”—one of Nicks’ signature songs. He says she presented the group with a “me or him” ultimatum, and seeing as how she’s just more famous overall and is probably better for selling tickets, they chose her.
Buckingham sued the band for forcing him out just before a big tour, but it sounds like things have softened—at least among a couple of the members—in the years since then. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mick Fleetwood explains that the recent death of founding Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green inspired him to reach out to Buckingham to try and patch things up. He says he’s “really enjoyed” reconnecting with his old friend and longtime bitter enemy (our words, not his), and they both have been “beautifully honest” with each other “about who we are and how we got to where we were.”
Fleetwood doesn’t seem to have any faith that Buckingham and Nicks will be able to patch things up, but it also doesn’t sound like he cares all that much if they do. He says that he will “make music and play again with Lindsey” someday, whether it’s as Fleetwood Mac or not, but the rest of the members can all “speak for themselves” and figure things out on their own. That being said, he says he “would love the elements that are not healed to be healed” and likes to imagine the “fantasy” that they could all someday “cross that bridge” and come back together, but again, he does use the word “fantasy” to describe that scenario.
The Rolling Stone interview also features Fleetwood touching on concerns that John McVie might not be willing to join the band again if it goes on a final farewell tour, but he’s even less concerned about that. “He’s always more interested in going sailing until you put it in front of his face,” he says, casually dismissing the (presumably) less stressful hobby that McVie would rather dedicate his time to than playing bass for Fleetwood Mac. Is it any wonder these people are constantly fighting? For now, though, at least some of them are definitely friends again—until Stevie Nicks chimes in and offers some kind of chaotic wrench to throw into the works.