The 1992 song Lindsey Buckingham wrote to settle a score with Mick Fleetwood
There are a couple of ways that musicians get back at each other following a particularly ugly breakup or musical feud.
The first is to publish a tell-all book that leaves no stone (and subsequently no page) unturned as every grizzly detail about the band’s inner workings is dissected. The second is to write a song detailing why you feel hard done by and why the track is now you performing as a solo artist. Well, if you’re in a group with a dynamic as messy as Fleetwood Mac, both things happen.
Fleetwood Mac is a band still celebrated today as tribute acts make an excellent living, keeping those hits alive and well, and each member still sees success in their respective solo careers. However, the continued love we, as listeners, have for their music does not reciprocate as a love that extends between members.
As band members formed relationships with one another that ended, tensions came to a head; creative differences got in the way of communication, and elongated tours played their part in exacerbating bad attitudes, so Fleetwood Mac eventually split. There have been a number of reformations since then, with various members returning for new releases, reunion shows and tours, but things between the group have never quite been the same.
Much tension came following the release of Mick Fleetwood’s autobiography, My Life And Adventures in Fleetwood Mac. This book was a tell-all account of Fleetwood’s time in the band and included some harrowing stories about Lindsey Buckingham. One tale has Buckingham slapping Stevie Nicks and bending her backwards over a car.
Buckingham refuted all of these claims and rather than respond in his own literate account, instead decided to write a song. With that, ‘Wrong’ was created, a piece released on his 1992 solo album Out of the Cradle.
Rather than issuing a direct rebuttal in interviews or print, Buckingham channelled his frustration into music, using the song as a vehicle to push back against the narrative he felt had been misrepresented. It allowed him to respond on his own terms, shaping the story through tone and attitude as much as through the lyrics themselves.
In doing so, ‘Wrong’ became more than just a diss track. It reflected the long-standing tensions within Fleetwood Mac, where personal grievances and creative expression were often intertwined. Like much of the band’s history, the song sits at the intersection of conflict and artistry, turning private disputes into something public and, ultimately, listenable.
Buckingham has never held back in talking about the inspiration for the track, making it very clear that he wrote ‘Wrong’ as a response to Fleetwood. “There’s stuff in that book that’s completely untrue. Mick admits that he was high during the time that he was conveying information to the ghostwriter,” he confirmed that the song “was about Mick basically getting it wrong.”
The track is pretty fun to listen to. Right from the start, with the funky keys and bass, it is laced with attitude, and it’s clear whatever the lyrics are, Buckingham was keen on making a point. He references that everyone in the band did things they regret before saying, “The man just got it wrong,” about Fleetwood.
Replying in song is a method as old as time when it comes to musicians’ feuds, which makes a lot of sense, given that many people who write music do so to express themselves. As such, expressing his feelings of disdain through a track makes a lot of sense for Buckingham, and the end result isn’t a half-bad piece either.
