LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM - The Unfinished Man

27. September 2021

Lindsey Buckingham Fleetwood Mac

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM - Der Unvollendete

With Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham has sold around 120 million albums and filled the biggest arenas in the world. But he hasn't been truly happy with it - the eternal feud with Stevie Nicks has sapped his nerves and his health. After being kicked out in 2018 and suffering a near-fatal heart attack the following year, the guitarist and singer is now attempting a fresh start with his seventh solo album, which he himself describes as "the small machine" and "musical painting". What does he mean by this? eclipsed got to grips with the almost 72-year-old.

The man from Palo Alto, whose first name often leads to false assumptions about his gender, is getting on in years: His body looks haggard, his features sunken, his hair a whitish gray. "I put all my energy into this band - this is the result," he jokes with fine cynicism. After all, it was largely thanks to Buckingham that the band, formed in London in 1967, achieved superstar status in the 1970s and '80s:

He wrote world hits like "Go Your Own Way" or "Big Love", played milestones like "Tusk" to a large extent and acted as producer and bandleader. He sacrificed at least two solo albums to the band and always put his other activities, be it soundtracks, guest appearances or concerts, behind the interests of the successful American-British formation. That loyalty, however, Buckingham says, didn't save him from being fired in January 2018. The occasion: a performance at a benefit gala in New York that led to a heated argument. Stevie Nicks insisted on opening the set with her song "Rhiannon." Buckingham responded with a snide gesture that sent Nicks to the barricades. "I was pissed. Not because I have anything against 'Rhiannon,' but as an opener I thought it was inappropriate - and it bothered me that Stevie got her stubborn way when everyone thought the same way I did. But no one dared to say anything."

After this expression of displeasure, Buckingham received a call from manager Irving Azoff: "He said he regretfully had to inform me that I had been dropped. Stevie had given the band an ultimatum, which was 'her or me' - and the band had chosen her. She never wanted to be on a stage with me again. How did that feel to me? Like a kick in the privates. I mean, after everything I've done for the band, it's completely over the top. Especially since it's Stevie who's been blocking everything for years. She doesn't want to record a new album because she doesn't think it's worth it financially - and she'd rather look after her solo career. If anything, she should have been taught a lesson."

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