Stevie Nicks Fires Back at Lindsey Buckingham After Explosive Accusation

Buckingham said Nicks gave the band an ultimatum.

In the Los Angeles Times interview, Buckingham said that the most recent tension with Nicks began when he asked for time off from the band's 2018 tour to promote his solo music. He says the other band members would have been okay with it, but Nicks refused. Then, when the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year honor in January 2018, Buckingham complained that "Rhiannon," a song written by Nicks, was playing as they went to the stage, and she thought that he had mocked her for giving a long speech.

After this, Buckingham says Nicks gave an ultimatum to the band: that either he would leave or she would. "It would be like a scenario where Mick Jagger says, ‘Either Keith [Richards] goes or I go,'" he told the Los Angeles Times. "No, neither one of you can go. But I guess the singer has to stay. The figurehead has to stay."

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He claimed that she wanted control over the band.

Buckingham also said that Nicks wanted to "cut herself loose" from having to compete with him and "saw the possibility of remaking the band more in the Stevie Nicks vein." He explained, "More mellow and kind of down, giving her more chances to do the kind of talking she does onstage."

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Nicks accused Buckingham of lying about the situation.

Through her publicist, Nicks spoke out on Buckingham's claims. "His version of events is factually inaccurate and while I’ve never spoken publicly on the matter, certainly it feels the time has come to shine a light on the truth," she told the LA Times. "To be exceedingly clear, I did not have him fired, I did not ask for him to be fired, I did not demand he be fired. Frankly, I fired myself. I proactively removed myself from the band and a situation I considered to be toxic to my wellbeing. I was done. If the band went on without me, so be it. And after many lengthy group discussions, Fleetwood Mac, a band whose legacy is rooted in evolution and change, found a new path forward with two hugely talented new members."

Those two new members are Neil Finn from the band Crowded House and Mike Campbell, who was the guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Fleetwood Mac manager Irving Azoff also commented on Buckingham's claims—including that Azoff "threw [him] under the bus" and is "driven by the money"—and sided with Nicks. "While I understand it’s challenging for Lindsey to accept his own role in these matters and far easier to blame a manager, the fact remains that his actions alone are responsible for what transpired," Azoff's statement reads in part.

Buckingham went on to call Nicks "lonely" and "alone."

"You could do a whole analysis on Stevie at this point in her life and what she’s allowed to happen and what she’s allowed to slip away from her," Buckingham told the newspaper. "Her creativity, at least for a while it seemed like she wasn’t in touch with that. Same with the level of energy she once had onstage. I think that was hard for her, seeing me jump around in an age-inappropriate way. Also, she’s lonely. She’s alone. She has the people who work for her, and I’m sure she has friends, but you know."

Nicks has been open about the fact that she chose not to have children and feels her career would have suffered if she did. Buckingham added of this, "Well, maybe she never did [want that], but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make her feel alone as a result.”

Nicks shot back at those comments about her personal life as well.

Nicks also gave a statement on Buckingham's words about how she's chosen to live her life. "Those are my decisions that I get to make for myself," she said. "I’m proud of the life choices I’ve made and it seems a shame for him to pass judgment on anyone who makes a choice to live their life on their own terms."

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