It is sad. Even though he has several solo albums, he just never had the "it" factor. He was never really more than a side man. Be it Fleetwood Mac's, or John Fogerty's, or whoever.

The closest thing to a hit he had was “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind,” but that’s probably sentimentality for Ray Charles on my part.

As much as I hate to admit it(and I do), it could be argued that Lindsey or Christine's solo careers weren't significantly more successful than Billy's.

That is a bitter pill....

Nah. They were significantly more successful than Billy.

Bob Welch, not so much.

Was this the quote from Billy back in 2018: "Breaking news: Lindsey Buckingham is out!
New line up to be announced soon and I'm not in it????? A little pissed off but I'll get over it. Good luck FLEETWOOD MAC It's all in the book..."

Steve, just in connection of the comparison of Billy's solo success to the success of Christine's...

Christine's big hit "Got a Hold On Me"... does Lindsey get credit for that song being a hit because he played on it?

I think I understand you credit Mick with Lindsey's "Trouble" being a hit.

Personally, I don't believe anyone other than Chris and Todd Sharp should get credit for the success of Hold On Me.

I think Mick did wonderful drumming on Trouble. I think Lindsey put drum programming on it too.

Open to considering points offered or none!

The photo on the back of the Deluxe Edition BTM era should definitely include Stevie and Rick. There are so few group photos from that time, but I’d go with the one on the back of the Greatest Hits album- it’s very classy and they all look fantastic.

Totally unrelated but this comment made me think about this because I would agree you don't see a lot of pics from the Tango/BTM era. That being said, I graduated high school in 1998 and within our yearbook was this insert type thing that talked about pop culture from our senior year. This was something that was clearly purchased and wasn't something that the yearbook team actually created specific for my school. Anyway, it talked about Fleetwood Mac reuniting for The Dance and being inducted into the RRHOF. It was a short blurb that and also mentioned how The Dance was the first album released by the band in a decade. And it includes a picture of the band...Billy, Mick, Chris, John, and Rick. No Stevie, no Lindsey. It's hard to find such a small little piece of something be wrong on so many levels but there it was - forever immortalized in a dumb old yearbook.

That’s not an accurate characterization. It’s not about crediting a player for the hit, per se. It’s just a fact that Lindsey never had a Top 10 single without Mick. In that same sense, Christine never had a Top 10 single without Lindsey.

In the case of “Trouble,” and Lindsey’s songs in general, I think Mick adds a feel that compliments what Lindsey is doing.

Thank you. I understand now.

LOL that’s funny! I guess it’s a reminder that a majority of the public has no idea who’s in Fleetwood Mac at any given moment. Years ago I bought a bootleg of a FM CD for their Behind the Mask tour, and of course the picture on the CD was the Rumours 5. Maybe the group shot on the back of the Deluxe Edition should just be the cover used for their Greatest Hits album LOL!

just a random thought, but given her control of the narrative around Lindsey's departure, one would have to imagine Stevie was NOT at all pleased by Billy's blabbing on social media. Mick likes to stay on Stevie's good side as it is financially advantageous. So if being (publicly at least) pals-y with Billy would irritate Stevie and make her turn some of her ire towards Mick, I could see him avoiding Billy to keep the peace with her. This band is so f****d up anything seems feasible.:shrug:

I don’t think that every single incident with Fleetwood Mac centers around Stevie. Does anyone really think Stevie threatened Mick if he invited Billy to perform at the Peter Green tribute because of a tweet?

Billy had a heart attack and then later contracted COVID- those are reasons enough that Billy would have skipped the tribute. Or maybe Billy was irritated at Mick for not being called in to replace Lindsey so he declined. I just hope whatever the circumstances, Billy is in good health and doing well.

The tribute was just before Covid.

The last two nights of that tour have more historical value than musical, in my perspective. The performances were pretty stodgy. The inaugural was a visual mess but it may have been an OK audio (although still not suitable for inclusion because there’s an announcer). But the Super Bowl was fine indeed.

I am aware of a few soundboards: Salt Lake City 1987 and 1990, Las Vegas 1987.

But there are a few radio broadcasts (Fresno 1987, Germany 1988 and Manchester UK 1990) and a tour rehearsal for 1990 (Dreams, Rhiannon, Save Me, The Chain, When the Sun Goes Down).

Agree. It’s pretty unlikely. It would indicate a Manchurian Candidate level of intrigue and plotting that is rather silly.