Longtime Fleetwood Mac guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham has left the band and will not participate in their upcoming tour, a band statement has confirmed.
The circumstances surrounding Buckingham’s departure remain unclear, but it is believed he was fired due that old favourite “musical differences”. The band’s statement offers no clarification of what happened, simply noting that “Lindsey Buckingham will not be performing with the band on this tour. The band wishes Lindsey all the best.”
In another unexpected twist, the band has announced that Buckingham will be replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but also by Neil Finn of Crowded House. “We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family,” the statement reads. “With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs. Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.”
Snow warnings for parts of the country, the mystery of Stonehenge solved and yes I’ve joined Fleetwood Mac
— neil mullane finn (@NeilFinn) April 9, 2018
Buckingham first joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974, bringing Stevie Nicks with him. Together they helped revive the band’s fortunes, both making major contributions to 1977’s multi-platinum selling Rumours. Buckingham was the driving force behind its follow-up, 1979’s Tusk, and although he began to put more effort into his solo career at this point, he rejoined Mac for their 1982 album Mirage and much of 1987’s Tango in the Night was culled from material intended for Buckingham’s next solo album. Despite this, Buckingham quit the band between the album’s release and the start of its accompanying tour. Although he rejoined Fleetwood Mac for a one-off performance at US President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993, Buckingham remained a solo artist until 1997 when the Rumours-era line-up regrouped for a tour. He remained a member of the band for its 2003 album Say You Will and in 2017 released Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie, an album with his Fleetwood Mac bandmate McVie. Now the band plans to hit the road again without him, although whether they will record any new material remains to be seen.
