Stevie Nicks gives rare response after Lindsey Buckingham talks Fleetwood Mac firing

Fleetwood Mac has become almost as famous for its infighting over the years as it has for its iconic music.

More than 50 years after the band first formed, it's still going.

The publicist for Stevie Nicks issued a rare response from the singer after former bandmate and ex-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham told the Los Angeles Times that Nicks had him fired from the band in 2018.

Buckingham, 71, claims that Nicks, 73, gave the band an ultimatum that it was either him or her in 2018, resulting in him being fired.

"It would be like a scenario where Mick Jagger says, ‘Either Keith (Richards) goes or I go,’” Buckingham said. "No, neither one of you can go. But I guess the singer has to stay. The figurehead has to stay."

Nicks, who had a famously tumultuous romantic relationship with Buckingham in the band's heyday in the 1970s, told the Los Angeles Times through her publicist that Fleetwood's recounting of his firing is "revisionist history."

“His version of events is factually inaccurate and while I’ve never spoken publicly on the matter, certainly it feels the time has come to shine a light on the truth,” Nicks said. “To be exceedingly clear, I did not have him fired, I did not ask for him to be fired, I did not demand he be fired. Frankly, I fired myself. I proactively removed myself from the band and a situation I considered to be toxic to my wellbeing. I was done. If the band went on without me, so be it.

“And after many lengthy group discussions, Fleetwood Mac, a band whose legacy is rooted in evolution and change, found a new path forward with two hugely talented new members."

The band's famous manager, Irving Azoff, backed Nicks' side of the story.

"In speaking with Stevie, her account of events are factual and truthful," he told the Los Angeles Times. "While I understand it’s challenging for Lindsey to accept his own role in these matters and far easier to blame a manager, the fact remains that his actions alone are responsible for what transpired."

The band, which also includes keyboardist-vocalist Christine McVie, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood, replaced Buckingham on its 2018 tour with the tandem of Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House.

Buckingham's ouster was followed by him having a heart attack in 2019 in which he underwent triple bypass surgery, and then his wife of 21 years filed for divorce.

The dispute with Nicks is the latest turbulence in a band that has seemingly constantly been on the brink of disintegration, from Nicks' relative absence in the 1990s to Buckingham and Christine McVie both being out of the band for stretches of at least a decade over the years.

Buckingham also threw barbs at Fleetwood and Christine McVie, saying Fleetwood has financial issues and is "not smart with his money," and claiming McVie told him she didn't stand up for him in 2018 because she just bought a house. The two did not respond to requests for comment.

Buckingham claims Nicks did not want him to upstage her on the tour and intimated that she is lonely because she never decided to have children.

"You could do a whole analysis on Stevie at this point in her life and what she’s allowed to happen and what she’s allowed to slip away from her," he said. "Her creativity, at least for a while it seemed like she wasn’t in touch with that. Same with the level of energy she once had onstage. I think that was hard for her, seeing me jump around in an age-inappropriate way. Also, she’s lonely. She’s alone. She has the people who work for her, and I’m sure she has friends, but you know."

“Those are my decisions that I get to make for myself," Nicks responded. "I’m proud of the life choices I’ve made and it seems a shame for him to pass judgment on anyone who makes a choice to live their life on their own terms."