As Lindsey Buckingham preps for his upcoming solo tour and new studio album — he maintains that half of Fleetwood Mac wants him back in the band. Three years after being tossed out of the group, the soon-to-be-divorced Buckingham has overcome open-heart surgery, hits the road early next month, and releases his self-titled collection on September 17th.
While talking to Mojo, Buckingham shed light on what precipitated his unplanned 2018 exit from Fleetwood Mac: “I did the record with Christine McVie (Lindsey Buckingham / Christine McVie in 2017) and wanted to go straight on to this (solo album). Fleetwood Mac wanted to tour. So we ended up going in a direction I didn’t see coming. Stevie (Nicks) orchestrated that, and the others were stuck in the middle. I thought at this point in our careers it doesn’t speak well of the legacy. So I had to restructure everything. But, hey, that’s rock n’ roll. . .”
Regarding a reunion with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham said, “It would be so appropriate for the five of us to go out again, even if you want to call it a farewell tour. I didn’t see the last shows (with Mike Campbell and Neil Finn) but I heard it was a little generic, like a covers band. That’s fine, because there’s always a faction of people who are coming for the brand, per se, and aren’t going to differentiate in terms of members as long as Stevie is up there. But it would be great for us to share it one last time. I know Mick (Fleetwood) and Christine would love that to happen. Wait and see.” Buckingham neglected to offer whether bassist John McVie is open to him returning.
When pressed about the contrast of his new album’s songs detailing a solidly domesticated long-term relationship, and his split with wife Kristen after three kids and 25 years together, he explained, “I wrote these songs when my wife and I had been together a long time. Things drift. Suddenly, you’re at a point where everyone is pulling to reboot the entire scenario of domestic life. That’s something that happens. So while a lot of these songs are celebrating long-term relationships, they’re doing it in a non-romanticised way.”
- Lindsey Buckingham tour dates (subject to change):
September 1 – Milwaukee, WI – The Pabst Theater
September 3 – Prior Lake, MN – Mystic Lake – Mystic Showroom
September 4 – New Buffalo, MI – Four Winds Casino Resort / Silver Creek Event Center
September 7 – Munhall, PA – Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
September 8 – North Tonawanda, NY – Riviera Theatre
September 9 – Northampton, MA – The Academy of Music
September 11 – Medford, MA – The Chevalier Theater
September 12 – Portsmouth, NH – The Music Hall
September 14 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
September 16 – New York, NY – The Town Hall
September 18 – Atlantic City, NJ – Tropicana Casino & Resort
September 19 – Reading, PA – Santander Performing Arts Center
September 21 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theatre
September 22 – Atlanta, GA – Woodruff Arts Center – Symphony Hall
September 24 – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre
September 26 – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL – Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
September 27 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
September 29 – Melbourne, FL – King Center for the Performing Arts
September 30 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Parker Playhouse
December 2 – Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
December 3 – El Cajon, CA – Magnolia Performing Arts Center
December 5 – Tucson, AZ – Fox Tucson Theatre
December 8 – Austin, TX – The Paramount Theatre For the Performing Arts
December 9 – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre
December 11 – Sugar Land, TX – Smart Financial Centre
December 13 – Huntsville, AL – Von Braun Center – Mars Music Hall
December 15 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
December 17 – Oklahoma City, OK – The Criterion
December 18 – Wichita, KS – Orpheum Theatre
December 20 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
SIDE NOTES
- Out now is Fleetwood Mac‘s 1980 concert collection, Fleetwood Mac Live. The new three-CD/two-LP collection, was primarily recorded during the band’s then-recent world tour behind Tusk, and features a remastered version of the original release on both 180-gram vinyl and CD, plus more than an hour of unreleased live music recorded between 1975 and 1982 on the third disc.
- In addition to the Tusk-era material, live tracks were culled from both the band’s road dates as far back as 1975. New additions to the set feature material from the 1982 dates in support of that year’s Mirage, along with such favorites as “Second Hand News,” “The Chain,” “What Makes You Think You’re The One,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown),” “Hold Me,” and “You Make Loving Fun.”
CHECK IT OUT: Lindsey Buckingham’s 2021 single, “I Don’t Mind”: