RS: Flashback: Lindsey Buckingham’s Final FM Set Before Split[
 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...rmance-793718/

Flashback: Lindsey Buckingham’s Final Fleetwood Mac Set Before Split
The former Fleetwood Mac guitarist recently underwent emergency heart surgery that damaged his vocal cords

By ANDY GREENE

Late last week, the shocking news arrived that Lindsey Buckingham had undergone emergency heart surgery that caused damage to his vocal cords. “He is now recuperating at home and each day he is stronger than the last,” his wife Kristen Buckingham said in a statement. “While it is unclear if this damage is permanent, we are hopeful it is not.”

The health scare came almost exactly a year after he learned that Fleetwood Mac had thrown him out of the band after Stevie Nicks said she could no longer work with him. They replaced him on the road with Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He sued the band over the termination and they reached a settlement outside of court. “The past year has been a very stressful and difficult year for our family to say the least,” Kristen said after Buckingham’s heart surgery. “But despite all this, our gratitude for life trumps all obstacles we have faced at the moment. We feel fortunate he’s alive.”

The last time that Lindsey Buckingham played with Fleetwood Mac was January 26th, 2018, when they were honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year. They played a short set that included “The Chain,” “Little Lies,” “Tusk,” “Gold Dust Woman” and “Go Your Own Way” and things seemed OK from the audience, but there was a behind-the-scenes battle when Buckingham objected to the use of “Rhiannon” as their intro music. Nicks was also enraged when he smirked during her long speech.

“The irony is that we have this standing joke that Stevie, when she talks, goes on for a long time,” Buckingham told Rolling Stone in October. “I may or may not have smirked. But I look over and Christine [McVie] and Mick [Fleetwood] are doing the waltz behind her as a joke.” (Video evidence backs him up on this.)

Nicks has yet to explain her side of the story in any detail, but the Radio City set remains the last time the classic Rumours lineup played together. Here’s video of them doing “The Chain” from the show with Harry Styles. This audience-shot video was obviously created by a Styles fan since he’s often the only one even visible in the frame and there’s a frenzied scream of “Harry’s on stage with them!” throughout the whole thing, but it’s the best version that’s available on YouTube right now.

Buckingham has put all of his solo dates on hold as he continues to recover from the heart surgery and the Fleetwood Mac tour is plugging away with dates on the books through late September. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. This health episode may inspire Nicks to make peace with Buckingham and set the stage for a reunion tour a couple of years down the line. And even if his voice was permanently damaged from the surgery, few fans will care just as long as he’s back on that stage where he belongs.

"Fleetwood Mac had thrown him out of the band"

FINALLY!!!!

Like it or not, that's the truth.

bolded parts i appreciate:
and then, bolded parts that irk me:
i like it better the way some articles described it - he won the settlement.

he didn't object to Rhiannon as intro music. he objected to any intro music, period. and now it appears pretty certain that Rhiannon was a set up to make him object - his objection may have been as mild as his smirking but enough to trigger pre-orchestrated coup in oh-so-sensitive SN.

yes, she didn't explain it in detail, but nicks gave her side of the story - she wants to be happy and others be damned. plus she threw a few lies in there about him not wanting to tour and her not being the boss. how many do-overs does she get? and how many lies do we exactly want to hear?

huh? reunion tour?? what are people smoking? maybe a one off so that he gets to be firmly in the band where he belongs again. but a tour? stealing from a friend on fb because he said it perfectly - I hope they all make amends on some level, but I don't think he should tour with them. I hope he recovers and continues his own work or works with Christine again.

I'm really, really torn about this part, because we all know Lindsey belongs to that stage... BUT I'm afraid they will betray him again as soon as Nicks gets upset because Lindsey winks at her. I'd really, really want to see that reunion happen, but... :distress::distress:

At least press is finally setting things straight.

i agree with you but - note that i highlighted just the sentence that says "And even if his voice was permanently damaged from the surgery, few fans will care just as long as he’s back on that stage where he belongs."

if you read just that sentence, without the previous one, you wouldn't think the writer is talking about the FM stage. so standing on its own, that sentence is completely true. and it's a nice thought - that fans will just love whatever he can and wants to give, voice or not.

Mac tour? no. agree with everything you said. maybe a one off on the stage so that he gets to be firmly in the band where he belongs again. but a FM tour? I hope they all make amends on some level, but I don't think he should tour with them. I hope he recovers and continues his own work or works with Christine again.

Flashback to the smirk that sank 1000 ships.

I don’t doubt that Lindsey smirked. I have seen him do worse, just like I have seen her mock him on stage during his speeches and in interviews when she thinks he has been boring or stupid.

But what I think is funny is that with a face like Lindsey’s how can you tell if he is smirking or not? He is always making odd facial expressions. I don’t know if he is trying to look quizzical, sarcastic, somber, wise or silly, but to me he wears an almost perennial smirk.

It's funny, as i speculated the smirk played a part in Lindsey's firing WAY BACK, when all of this became public. My speculation went down like a lead balloon & laughed off as just fan fiction.. ;) I imagine over the years worse things were said or done, at Musicares she was still coming to terms with TP's passing & her speech went off track & was mostly about Tom. If any of us were in the same position dealing with a best friends death, and your EX is in the back ground pulling disapproval faces, say at a funeral for eg, who wouldn't be pissed?

Still he should not of been sacked, maybe a glass of wine in his face may of been sufficient afterwards.

I am not taking sides btw! & wish we could turn back time & the past 14 months could be erased.

Unfortunately, you're not the bo$$, and neither is Lindsey.

We all know who is... Old Goat Breath. Aka -bitter hag.

[QUOTE=Aussie W/Heart;1248925]It's funny, as i speculated the smirk played a part in Lindsey's firing WAY BACK, when all of this became public. My speculation went down like a lead balloon & laughed off as just fan fiction.. ;) I imagine over the years worse things were said or done, at Musicares she was still coming to terms with TP's passing & her speech went off track & was mostly about Tom. If any of us were in the same position dealing with a best friends death, and your EX is in the back ground pulling disapproval faces, say at a funeral for eg, who wouldn't be pissed?

That would be nice if the OTHER members of the band weren't doing WAY worse. You know the waltzing??????? Not buying it. She was looking for an excuse, I watched the footage it was not worthy of a firing AT ALL.

[QUOTE=secondhandchain;1248950]The waltz was far worse-----but even that's not worthy of getting fired. As an aside, and not sure where to put this---Musicares appears to be a giant jinx--Tom Petty gets it 3 years ago......
FM gets it last year, LB gets fired and now his heart.
I adore Dolly Parton--she just got it---can we wrap her in bubble wrap?? Whoever is on tap next year, better strongly consider politely declining:)

I watched the footage and never saw any such smirk at all. I really don't know what facial expression of his she was referring to. But we unfortunately have to remember Lindsey told the reporter that Azoff said Stevie had a LIST of things she was irritated with. We still don't know what they are. By not telling, he probably makes her look petty(pun intended)by claiming she fired him over a smirk.

All of her complaints about him are petty though. From the granny sweater to the mic stand, to the singular pronoun, to the album left on the stair. You could say that she keeps the most awful things he does to her to herself and doesn’t share them with the world, but that’s really not her style. I think her public complaints are probably representative of the private complaints she has about him.

lots of smirk-level bs, i'm sure.

i mean how many years has she talked about the Bob Dylan incident. and how much tongue was he so obviously biting in that one?

and remember, she's been taking digs at him for so long and so often, that everyone is just used to them. even yesterday in Birmingham, she told that whole all too familiar "cleaning lady while he's laying on the floor with his guitar doing i don't know what" spiel.