Lindsey Buckingham would rejoin Fleetwood Mac “in a heartbeat”
Lindsey Buckingham, who left Fleetwood Mac in 2018, has revealed that he would rejoin the group “in a heartbeat” if they reached out and asked.
As it stands, the future of Fleetwood Mac is in doubt following the death of Christine McVie in 2022. Singer Stevie Nicks later confessed the band have no plans to tour without McVie, stating, “When Christine died, I felt like you can’t replace her. You just can’t. Without her, what is it?”
Nevertheless, during a recent conversation with Conan O’Brien on SiriusXM, Buckingham said he’d be open to returning to the driving seat if the opportunity arose.
Firstly, he discussed his exit from Fleetwood Mac, stating: “Without pointing any fingers, it was certainly fairly singular in how it was driven. Others in the band were not happy with what was going on at that point. And I think everyone would have liked to see me remain, but did what they felt they had to do in that moment. And that’s understandable. There’s no fingers to point at anyone, really. That’s rock and roll, right?”
Buckingham also claimed Fleetwood Mac had survived far bigger moments of adversity than the disagreement which led to his departure, noting: “I was in the band for almost 45 years and we were always – this is always part of our legacy – we were always able to work out our differences over things of which were far more profound than any issues that happened in 2018 with me departing the band.”
Following his dismissal, Buckingham was replaced by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. The guitarist said of their decision: “The band collectively allowing that to happen, maybe out of weakness to some degree, it disrespected the legacy we built.”
“Because we’d been through 45 years almost of really some very difficult moments, some very difficult years, and we’d come back around. Like I say, that’s our legacy. So to some degree, to go out and do something more generic was not honouring our legacy,” he added.
Despite everything which has occurred between Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac, he’d still be willing to return. “In a heartbeat, absolutely. If there’s more to come [from Fleetwood Mac], if there’s a way to heal that, that would be great. It would be very appropriate to close on a more circular note,” he told O’Brien when asked about rejoining.
In 2020, Mick Fleetwood confirmed Buckingham’s exit was permanent, commenting: “We’re very, very committed to Neil and Mike, and that passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left. And it’s not a point of conversation, so I have to say no.”
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