I'd give anything if I had screen shot Billy's rant, the morning he found out they weren't invited(he deleted it shortly, before I thought to save it). He was pissed!

The BTM era I think was treated similar to Bob Welch. After the Dance, it was "let's pretend Behind the Mask and Time didn't happen". Notwithstanding All Over Again surfacing on the Finn/Campbell tour. It would've been interesting to reunite that line up though as it did have potential and who knows where it would've gone after licking the wounds of the BTM sales and learning from its flaws- writing and production.

I really would have loved it if Rick and Billy had been invited back… but I bet Rick would have said no and didn’t Billy have heart bypass surgery shortly after Neil and Mike joined? So the tour wouldn’t have happened if he had rejoined. 3 or 4 people here blamed Stevie and Mick for Lindsey’s heart attack, but not for Billy’s. John and Christine escaped blame, though. But I could be wrong about the timeline of Billy’s health. Fortunately, like Lindsey, he lived through it. Lindsey’s health got way more press and attention than Billy- I know Lindsey made an incredible recovery, but I’m not sure how well Billy really bounced back.

That would have been a truer ending to the band, if they'd been invited back into the band. I'll bet Rick would have said yes. FM was fading away back when he left the band. They're big again now. Everyone wants to go out on top.

I forget the exact timeline, but you're right. Billy had surgery either right before the tour began, or right as it began.

You know....STEVIE DIDN'T GET BILLY FIRED FROM ONE OF THE BIGGEST BANDS OF ALL TIME. You understand that, right? There's a huge difference! We know, Stevie can do no wrong, in your eyes.:rolleyes:

Billy has been back playing gigs for some time now.

But Stevie refused to let Billy or Rick rejoin FM, so naturally that caused Billy’s heart attack. I mean, if kicking someone out of a band can cause a heart attack, not letting someone rejoin would also cause a heart attack. Genetics be damned, I say.

I don’t know about Rick, though- I just kind of get the feeling he was more irritated about how the band handled things, especially with the RRHOF, and maybe had their number by 2019. Billy, I could see having more faith they’d give him another chance, which was probably why it hurt him so much when they didn’t. Rick seemed to understand where he stood in the big picture when it comes to FM.

Rick is at least a guitar star. He's played with a lot of amazing artists. I sure hope he got royalties from Bob Seger's Like A Rock, because Chevy used that in their commercials for about a decade! That's Rick playing slide guitar on it!

Billy has never really been more than a side man, IMO. He plays rhythm guitar, and sings backup vocal(some lead). BUT, he's been in many more of Mick's projects than Rick, or anyone else. Billy should have been pissed. There's no loyalty with FM, especially with Satan, err Irving, at the helm.

I don't think Billy actually had a heart attack. I think they found blockage during a checkup, and decided they needed to clear it.

Has anyone ever discovered who the mystery guitarist was that auditioned after Lindsey was fired? Billy broke the story so it was circumstantial evidence it was him. We know Stevie demanded Mike Campbell so one position was already taken. It may have been odd to invite only one of Billy and Rick back into the band. A true Sophie's choice. So that is circumstantial evidence that maybe neither Billy and Rick were considered. If Stevie had not already promised Mike Campbell, it may have seemed obvious to invite them BOTH Rick and Billy back. But with one position already taken, it would have been tough.

I want to know who played with the band and the band said.....no thank you.

I remember a name was thrown out, but it was a man I had never heard of from a band I had never heard of. Sorry, I know I’m not a big help right now LOL but I can at least confirm that a specific man was mentioned, and he wasn’t as big a name as either Neil or Mike. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t talented or whatever… I also believe he was quite a bit younger, like in his 40s or something like that.

I’m sure someone will post his name here.

From an Irving standpoint, Mike and Neil are bigger names than Billy and Rick, so in his satanic eyes, that's strengthening his brand.

Much akin to putting Vince Gill and Glenn's son in The Eagles.

I need that guy managing my IRA...

John Paul White of Civil Wars, but Brett wasn’t completely sure.

Rick said in a Peter Green tribute video he and Mick went their separate ways in 2016. If you take a look at Rick's Twitter, you can see why Mick would disagree with Rick. Cough**James Woods**cough cough

:confused: Don’t tease me, UnwindedDreams lol! I don’t have Twitter so I have no idea what you’re referring to, but the James Woods reference has me beyond intrigued! Can you please spill the tea, as they say?

I do know Rick performed at the Peter Green concert, and I don’t think he would have unless he had somewhat made peace with Mick, but who knows. I was very disappointed that once Waddy got the child porn allegations dismissed, Rick was out as Stevie’s musical director and tours and Waddy was back in, but in fairness, maybe he was innocent. Seems like Rick and Stevie were just as tight as Mick and Rick ever were.

Rick retweets a lot of James Woods’ right-winged tweets.

You've got it. But he and Mick spoke when Mick was really serious about making the Peter Green concert happen and Mick told Rick that he couldn't imagine Rick not being a part of it/do it without him.

Was Waddy declared innocent?

Also, was Rick the musical director or was it Carlos and Rick was lead guitarist?