The Decades-Long Feud Between Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham, Explained

Lindsay Buckingham took a potshot at Stevie Nicks, accusing her of ousting him as the guitarist of Fleetwood Mac in a September 2021 interview with Rolling Stone. The comments rekindle the feud that has raged between the former romantic partners and bandmates for decades. Buckingham suggested his dismissal was not due to a conflict over tour dates, as reported, but because Nicks is jealous of his personal life. "She's lonely. She's alone. She has the people who work for her, and I'm sure she has friends, but, you know," he said, pointing out that he has a son while Nicks is unmarried and doesn't have children.

Buckingham and Nicks met in met in 1968 and began performing together soon after, gradually going from artistic collaborators to lovers as well. They joined Fleetwood Mac as a couple, and when they split in 1977, the breakup became fuel for the band's iconic 1977 album "Rumours." "I always laugh because Lindsey's 'Go Your Own Way' and my 'Dreams' are like, counter songs to each other," Nicks told The New Yorker. "I'm like, 'When the rain washes you clean, you'll know,' and he's like, 'Packing up, shacking up's all you want to do.' Both songs kind of mean the same thing — it's really about our breakup."

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's musical disagreements drove much of their conflict. Buckingham was critical of Nicks' songwriting and he made a harsh editor, often imposing stricter structure on her signature meandering style; Nicks accused him of creatively railroading her, according to "Gold Dust Woman" (via New York Post). Even after their breakup, Nicks resented Buckingham's choice to cut a song she had written, "Silver Springs," from "Rumours," relegating it to the B-side of the single, "Go Your Own Way."

In the 80s, both artists launched solo careers, which seemed to fan the flames of resentment. Nicks was commercially successful and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a second time, as a solo artist, in 2019. Meanwhile, Buckingham never achieved as much traction with his solo releases and he only broke the Billboard Top 10 once, with the 1981 hit "Trouble."

Fleetwood Mac continued to record and tour together. In 2018, Buckingham asked the band to postpone tentative tour dates accommodate his solo career, but Nicks refused. Buckingham was subsequently fired from the band. "Ironically, nothing went down that night that was [as contentious] as the stuff we'd been through for 43 years," said Buckingham in a 2021 interview with the Los Angeles Times. Nicks has maintained that she was not responsible for Buckingham's firing, and she said that Fleetwood Mac is done for good after the death of Christine McVie.