Lindsey was fired. RIP Fleetwood Mac.
 

starting a clean slate, because it seems that new people keep coming out of the woodwork asking why he "left" every few seconds. some people don't want to accept the sad truth that the band he made huge fashioning its music for the last 43 years betrayed one of their own, a family member.

Lindsey's kids are on the internet very clearly saying - he was fired. and that FM is not FM without him, and how proud of him they are.
his brother is out there too, saying the same.
his wife's IG is sporting #teamlindsey hashtag.

news outlets confirmed that he was fired by the band insiders who don't want their names out there, but want the truth to be known. Rolling Stone and Variety are not gossip rags that put out there some unconfirmed gossip. Billy's leaks pulled the trigger before Fm was ready.

i can't help but wonder what's going on behind the scenes. there is a lot of buzz that Lindsey was fighting it legally, but who knows. not clear whether he's fighting to stay in the band or just suing the pants out of them. i understand all my friends who are FM fans first and are sad that the band's longest and most successful incarnation is dead (and properly moved to post-rumours forum here), and want him back. ii did sign and amplified all the various petitions from people wanting him back. but i can't help thinking how betrayed he must feel by the people he considered family, and that he probably doesn't want to see them for a while now. as far as the band members, Stevie, i'm just sad for. she must be a very unhappy person. but mostly i'm disgusted with Mick. and his cold statement cements it and is lower than low.

from all the backlash, maybe their tour will bomb badly. wouldn't that be karmic considering that they fired him because of money, ie pretty rational calculation that FM minus Lindsey would make more money than FM minus Stevie? :laugh: most general social media comments are laughing at the complete craziness and yet another post-success chimera version of the band. i think with this move they made sure there will be movies made about FM.

I'm still so surprised by this. I had no idea it was this bad behind the scenes. It really doesn't make sense, I mean, didn't they have plenty of time recently to do their own thing? If they can't stand each other why commit to a tour in the first place? Mick's statement is one of the most cold things I've read in a while. It also supremely contradicts what he's said in the past.

I'm very upset they're treating Lindsey this way. Danny...then Bob....now Lindsey. I doubt I can ever look at Mick the same way again. This jumps the shark.

RIP Fleetwood Mac indeed.

This is the craziest, most idiotic move of this band's crazy and idiotic career.

Such are my feelings towards this "band" [sic] now that I do really hope Buckingham sues the heck out of them. And he will have a far better claim than Bob Welch ever did.

Fleetwood Mac has survived for 51 years, don't reckon Lindsey going will be the end. The music will live on, the crowds will still flock to see them, the money will roll in. Albums might not sell but then even with Lindsey they weren't going to sell many.

We don't know why, it will come out in the end but hell the facts are still muddied about the Weston sacking and I wasn't even born then :lol:

I don't get too caught up in the personalities, just hope we get some new music, and a new album.

It is proper to start this thread because it highlights two key facts:

1. Lindsey was fired. We don't know why or on what grounds, but that is appears to be the case and needs to be reiterated and deserves all the informed conjecture Ledgies can throw at it.
2. Fleetwood Mac is over. It was great while it lasted.

As for the legal aspect, that's interesting. When Hooky was booted from New Order they had to square things with him legally and financially on complex levels because he is a co-founder of the band and (I think?) all members have songwriting credits on all songs. I'm not an expert, I should look into what deal they ultimately made with him to control the New Order name, release new music, tour, and play New Order songs he co-wrote.

I wonder what grounds Lindsey would have IF the band did agree to a certain tour schedule.

I hope he gets as much as possible.

word on the street has it that Lindsey refused to make any setlist changes and is/was very rigid. Mick, Stevie and Chris wanted to make significant setlist changes. Face it....as much as Lindsey contributed to the band, he was NOT the entire history of Fleetwood Mac and he was becoming bored with the Mac in recent years...

The set was stagnant and the arrangements have been fairly set in stone since The Dance or SYW tours. But I just can’t see firing Lindsey because he didn’t want to play Oh Well or some of the older stuff. I certainly hope they wouldn’t want Lindsey or anyone to sing any Bob Welch era stuff after the way the treated him. And does he really care if Stevie wants to drop Rhiannon for Straight Back? Maybe he does...in which case this is what we all knew, a group of old fart children.

Curious if it's known on the streets, why would he not want to change up the setlist? If he was bored, wouldn't he want some artistic changes that would make the tour interesting?

As much as I try, in my own little removed world from the inner workings of FM, I am having a really hard time making sense of this entire debacle.

They all had to have known, this late in their careers, that firing a key member would essentially make a joke out of their LAST F@#*&%G tour!!!! I get sooooo angry just saying that.

I always got the impression that Lindsey wanted to change the setlist around and the other's restricted him. Maybe it was the other way round.

I think it's very smart tactics of Lindsey to keep quiet and let his kids and family speak for him. He knows more than anyone else how chaotic the management of the band is and probably expected they would not be able to come out with a coherent response any time soon--which is exactly what has happened.

It took Fleetwood Mac almost a week after Burnette and the TP photographer went on social media to announce this. I saw threads on Twitter mocking them because the rumour had already been spreading for months in some FM groups. By the time the formal announcement was made the firestorm had already erupted. Their clueless press releases fanned the flames even further.

It's like the current controversy with Facebook--Zuckerberg did not say anything for days and weeks into the scandal, which made the situation much worse than it would have been had he come out with a statement and interview a day or 2 after the news came out.

Then again, given Mick Fleetwood, an interview with him would only make the band look even more preposterous than they already are.

truly, I've never seen anything like this, not even the drama after Tango.

I feel like it wasn't Lindsey it was the FANS that just got bitch slapped by Mick.

The 'people come and go' thing may have worked in '87 but after that so famously tanked it was obvious who came back to save the day hence.

Stunned and admittedly angry it came to this.

That's the least believable theory I've yet heard.

Right? If LB was bored a different song would help. No way.

Haha no that is NOT word on the street they never even came as far as discussing the setlist. The disagreement was about bigger picture issues is a word, like logistics of the 2 intermingled tours.

Setlist thing I only saw as a fan speculation.

I just had a happy little fantasy. I imagine Lindsey sitting in his living room writing a song on his guitar, feeling relieved that he won't have to put up with the nastiness of Fleetwood Mac anymore. His stress level is close to zero! He's thinking that he's already got plenty of money, and it's not as if nobody will buy a solo album or attend a solo tour -- many people will -- probably more because of all this publicity.

He gives a passing thought to Christine, feeling wistful and sorry he won't have a chance to work with her any more, but then he thinks about Stevie, and the thought that he won't have to work with ever again gives him a feeling of deep contentment. He sends John a text, hey man, let's keep in touch, and John texts him a big thumbs up. And he's thinking, give it some time (a couple of months) and maybe he'll get in touch with Christine about some future collaborations.

In my little fantasy, life is very good for Lindsey right now. He doesn't have to put on an act for the fans any more. Now he can be himself, and he can create new music without having to answer to the dysfunction of the Fleetwood Mac machine.

He just did a tour with 80% of a new album being played live. Fleetwood Mac hasn’t done that since Rumours!!

Right! And if I’m not mistaken, it’s been Stevie in interviews over the years who has mentioned you can’t go out and play songs people don’t know and then she references back to the beginning of the Rumours Tour when allegedly the audience knew none of the songs they were playing.

I can’t see Lindsey not wanting to play obscure tunes (IKINW, the SYW songs) but I can see him objecting to playing/singing on songs from the pre-75 years. They had the one off tour in ‘09 with Oh Well back but ever since The Dance they have eschewed Oh Well and anything else.

It’s just music.
And while it’s hugely disappointing, everyone will be fine.
These are all adults at the end of very long hugely successful careers.
I’m just happy they’re all still making music.
Hiring Mike Campbell is the most rock solid insurance policy a band could ever buy into.
The Tom Petty fan base is thrilled. Maybe we should keep an open mind.
If I made a list of the best live shows I’ve seen in my life, Heartbreakers shows would appear several times on the list.

I’m sad and disappointed, but looking forward to seeing my second favorite guitarist on stage with Mick and John.

All I can do is laugh at that one.

Actually Tom and Mike fan bases are as divided as Mac fan base. They think Mike can and should do better. Some are hoping this might give him exposure. None of them expect he’ll get to express any creativity with the mac.

You know that If Tom was alive, he’d be appalled. Yet I fully expect Lindsey’s name will now be replaced w Toms in all the endless stories from the stage,

Same here. I didn't know there was anything (arguments, whatever) going on around the time of Musicares until I read thru comments about Billy's post. The part I'm having trouble with is he was fired. Like clean out your desk and security will escort you out of the building. Holy crap! Things must have been brewing for awhile that we weren't aware of. I truly think some of this is Stevie's grief. Not excusing her--she married Kim Anderson after Robin died. She has a history of doing insane things in the grieving process. That doesn't excuse the rest of them.

I don’t know.
There’s a lot of speculation going on.
I’m just going to trust that they all came to this decision as adults,
just as they did in 87.
It sucks for us now, but it’s sort of like offering opinions when the neighbors down the street are going through a divorce.
Not really for us to judge and as I said before, they don’t owe fans anything and they aren’t beholden to us.
Nobody is saving lives here or keeping democracies from teetering off the edge.
It’s just a band.
Not sure if I’ll go see them, but I hope some new and interesting music comes out of it.
I think since I lived through the first Lindsey departure, I have to keep an open mind.
As disappointed as I am...

You sound like my sig other--he's trying to help me with gentle reminders that nobody died. He means it seriously like wouldn't it be worse if one of the members had died.

Unlike 1987, I'm not sticking around to watch this train wreck. I've already seen it. People who don't think history repeats itself are deluding themselves. This will be a disaster.

At least in 1987 it was plausible to think that Fleetwood Mac still had a future and had opportunities to expand creatively. But now? What, have they taken so much drugs that they actually think they are immortal? And seriously, will they allow Finn or Campbell to dictate matters? Lindsey's Mac succeeded because he was in Mick's terms a "martinet" who compelled everybody to get things done properly his way. Yes he was a monomaniac control freak--but to get this bunch of people to accomplish anything he needed to be. Time was a "democratic" album--heck, didn't Christine have her own guitarist?--and look how awful, awful that was.

I remember the band saying how much more fun it was to make Behind the Mask than Tango. Is there anything on BTM remotely resembling Little Lies or Everywhere or Big Love? Even WTTRS was better than anything there.

So that's that then. In hindsight this band should have died thirty years ago. It is now a Dead Band Walking. It's about time to stop pretending it is still alive. Lindsey worked hard to create that illusion, and at his best he almost succeeded. With him gone, they have no chance.

Back in 1980 blah blah blah MEEEEEE blah blah blah TOM blah blah blah MEEEEEEEEEEEEE lbhalbhalbhalbhalbh MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE $$

4 minutes later... SO THIS SONG IS ABOUT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....

:laugh:

I think in one of the threads someone quoted her saying that Fleetwood Mac is still around because she gets bored. Indeed she does think everything is about her.

That's why Lindsey was fired. He is the only one on earth who doesn't defer to her as the icon Madonna Nicopeia.

Jeez, some of you guys make it sound like Stevie is the wicked witch of the west hatching some evil plot to ruin poor lindsey’s life for no reason. Nobody woke up and randomly said “hey Lindsey, you’re fired because we’re sick of you”. Stevie & Mick aren’t dumb. They both live for money and attention and they know full well that the full rumours line up is what gets them the most of both those things, so neither would ever prefer to tour with the band incomplete.
Meanwhile they had this tour pre-planned and scheduled. I’ve heard from a few sources that there were even contracts already signed and in place. And he pulled out last minute, just like he did in 1987. Sure Stevie has delayed lots of stuff, but warning your band a year in advance that you want to delay a hypothetical tour is very different from signing on for a preplanned tour and then trying to pull out in the 11th hour. I’m sure they put forth every bit of effort to try to get him back on board. If he chose to continue being the hold-out and the rest of the band grew tired of fighting him on it, then his absence is his own fault. There’s a difference between a band spitefully firing somebody for no reason and a band deciding to continue with their plans despite one member’s absence.
If your argument is that you think they should’ve just broken up or that they shouldn’t call the new incarnation “Fleetwood Mac”, I can understand that. But demonizing & attacking the rest of the band while making Lindsey out to be a completely innocent victim with no complicity is ridiculous IMO.

Since you asked- Save Me, Skies the Limit, Behind the Mask, and As Long As You Follow are great songs, and I would rank Save Me and Follow higher than Little Lies. In the Back of My Mind, Do You Know, Love is Dangerous, and No Questions Asked are also excellent. This version of the Mac I totally loved. Sorry you didn't like it but I understand... I didn't like Time at all, but that album has fans, too. And there are some bombs on Tango- When I See You Again and Family Man are wretched, Welcome to the Room Sara is saved only by the lyrics, and You and I 2 is forgettable fluff.

BUT, the story that's out there is actually that STEVIE was the one who issued an ultimatum-- "it's either me or him"-- to the band, not Lindsey.

Now that the dust is beginning to settle, this is one of the most sensible observations I've read on this mess.Three random thoughts over the past few days:
1.You cannot compare this with 1987 - the 1987 tour was the first in five years and was a virtual comeback. It was successful because it was on the back of TITN and we had 4 tango songs/singles in the set.
2. I listened to the Toronto show from Unleashed tour 2009 yesterday (in 'memory'of LB) and was struck by how good it was with just him and SN.
3. When I first listened to the UK edition of 'The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac' from 2002 -which contained Peter Green era hits, I remember being struck by the sense of a common thread going through ALL of the songs on this collection, despite them being two very different incarnations of the band.

Because Lindsey couldn't/wouldn't have said that.

They know which side their bread is buttered on.

Yup. The story this Rhiannon person wrote is the one circulated on Stevie only fans boards, I hear. That’s the story this newest version of post/FM WANTED out there - saying they parted ways makes it look like they are martyrs and are covering for Lindsey letting them down right before the booked tour once again. He was always an a**hole, that story goes. Public would be on their side in that scenario.

But the truth came out because enough people had Lindsey’s back and spoke the truth. Guess he must not be as bad as some are trying to portray him if people have his back so much! Some radio stations are reporting that the band is furious!!

The only positive spin they are getting is their own statements and SN fan boards.

hmmm... so any response countering the claim that comments about Stevie qualify as "misogynistic" have been removed by mods and/or moved to the 'hot topics' thread so they will be lost. Interesting.

That is a rumor, being passed as fact. It seems to validate a few people's feelings on this board. I'll just wait until Lindsey talks before I spread misinformation. I really want to hear his version of what went down and he has no reason to stay silent. Well, there would be only one reason he would keep silent.

Ironic isn’t it? Back in the day Lindsey said it’s either both of us or I can join the band. She sucks.

I moved that on the Hot Topics thread where it belongs and also responded to it, if anyone simply makes the effort to click either on the redirecting link here in the Rumours board or even directly on the Chit Chat link they'll simply find it there.

Nope that was first publicly reported by that Tom Petty insider who got raked over the coals for the whole report. Most stuff that he reported was confirmed since so i’d call this a bit more than a made up rumor.

I don’t see Lindsey talking any times soon. First he is usually pretty classy about not dumping really low stuff in the interviews, and second if he’s suing them and there is some kind of settlement I have no doubt he won’t be allowed to as one of the clauses of the settlement. I hear FM is already fuming with the way reactions are all on his side so far, they would not willingly allow him to add to that by confirming it’s all true.

Exactly. And what the Heartbreakers just went through is a close reminder.
I’m honestly gutted with what happened given how long Ive been a fan; but the shows have gotten a little paint-by-numbers lately. And as much as I loved the idea of a farewell tour, the
setlist would have been constructed in our sleep. And I’m not interested in seeing them phone in performances anymore.
So at least this is something different, and Lindsey will be missed.
But Mike is always shockingly good. And has been for decades.