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As earlier reported, Fleetwood Mac officially announced Monday they would be touring without Lindsey Buckingham this year. While no reason was given for Buckingham’s departure from the group, both Rolling Stone and Variety have reported that the singer-guitarist was fired from the legendary band.
The band’s statement revealed that Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn would be rounding out Fleetwood Mac’s lineup on their to-be-announced 2018 tour, simply adding, “Lindsey Buckingham will not be performing with the band on this tour. The band wishes Lindsey all the best.”
However, Rolling Stone reports that Buckingham was fired by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band following a disagreement about the aforementioned tour.
Variety, which also reported Monday that Buckingham was fired, followed up its own story with an article titled, “Was Lindsey Buckingham fired from Fleetwood Mac or not?”
The entertainment trade magazine cited an inside source who revealed that Buckingham wanted to work on his solo material this year, while the other Fleetwood Mac members were eager to head out on tour. Buckingham apparently wouldn’t commit to touring, leading the band to proceed without him.
As for whether Buckingham was fired or not, the source told Variety it’s a matter of semantics, depending on how one defines “fired.”
Prior to Monday’s official band statement, word of Buckingham’s departure first came from onetime Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette, who wrote in a since-deleted tweet: “Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out but I’m not back in.”
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