Longtime lead guitarist of the band Fleetwood Mac, Lindsay Buckingham has cut ties with the band in the dawn of their upcoming fall tour. The reason? According to a spokesperson for the band, it's due to "musical differences regarding the tour". In other words they had a big argument over how the tour was going to go down, set lists, performances, solos, etc. and clearly Buckingham was not on board with whatever the rest of the band wanted and split.
Now, this band has been around for what? 40 + years. They formed in 1967 in London, England but it wasn't until the 70s when they picked up momentum and also singer Stevie Nicks in addition to lead guitarist Lindsay Buckingham. The duo were dating at the time and the rest of Fleetwood Mac originally wanted Buckingham as they desperately need a lead guitarist. Buckingham agreed to join on the condition that his girlfriend Nicks also got to join the band. The band agreed and went on to make their biggest selling record yet, "Fleetwood Mac", which came out in 1975. This album featured the hits, "Rhiannon" & "Say You Love Me".
Their second album, "Rumours" which came out in 1977, sold over 40 million copies worldwide, which made it the 8th highest selling album to date. Some of the hits from that album include the popular hit "Go Your Own Way", "The Chain", and "You Making Loving Fun". This album produced 4 US top 10 singles and remained at No. 1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. In addition they won a Grammy for "Album of the Year" in 1978 for "Rumours".
The band did recently, this year of 2018, win the Grammy's "MusicCares Person of the Year". They were the first band to ever do so and did perform together earlier this year to honor that induction at the ceremony.
Regarding the split, it is unfortunate for many Fleetwood Mac fans that are planning to see them this coming Fall 2018. Guitarists Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and Neil Finn will be taking Buckingham's place. Regardless of how old the band is and how many ups and downs or splits they've had, it's always nice to see the full crew there performing. I'm personally a fan of Fleetwood Mac, even though I'm a millennial. I don't have tickets to this upcoming show but if I did, I'd still go. This split would not deter me. It's not like without Buckingham they aren't going to play their hits that they recorded with him. I think as long as Stevie Nicks is there, they'll be okay with ticket sales. She's their money maker and what draws the crowd. As for whether Buckingham will be back eventually? Time will tell.
-Producer Lightning