MOJO Nicks on McVie's death
 

I tried to get as much of it as I could. (around the ads and paywall)

Stevie Nicks: “Without Christine there is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together.”

Stevie Nicks speaks exclusively to MOJO about the “devastating” loss of her Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie and what it means for the future of the group.

“It was all stunningly strange, because there wasn’t any lead up to it,” says Nicks of McVie’s death following a stroke in Autumn 2022. “We got a call, and I was going to rent a plane and go see her, but her family said, ‘Don’t come, because she may not be here tomorrow.’ And the next day, she passed away.

“I wanted to go there and sit on her bed and sing to her – which definitely would have made her pass away faster,” jokes Nicks to MOJO’s Bob Mehr through tears. “But I needed to be with her. And I didn’t get to do that. So that was very hard for me. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

Since McVie’s death Nicks has been adamant that she no longer considers Fleetwood Mac a going concern. “Without Christine, no can do,” she says. “There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn’t work.”

While Fleetwood Mac operated successfully between 1998 and 2014 largely without McVie, her absence heaped more onus on Nicks and Buckingham to front the band in tandem. But, as she explains, a détente between her and Buckingham – following the guitarist’s exit from the band in 2018, the two last crossed paths at a memorial service for McVie in early 2023 – wouldn’t necessarily clear the way to a final tour.

“Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problems,” says Nicks, referring to Buckingham’s emergency open heart surgery in 2019. “It’s not for me to say, but I’m not sure if Lindsey could do the kind of touring that Fleetwood Mac does, where you go out for a year and half. It’s so demanding.”

“I do [Landslide] and we have beautiful video montage of me and Chris,” says Nicks of her current set. “I can never look at it, though, when I’m singing, because I’ll just get hysterical and sob. The world is a little bit of an empty place without her.”

Although she’s lost several musical comrades in recent years, including Tom Petty, Nicks continues to find connection in her band, which includes decades-long collaborators Sharon Celani and Waddy Wachtel.

“When I walk on stage, I couldn’t be prouder of my band,” says Nicks. “I mean, I would rather not be freed up from Fleetwood Mac, because of Christine. But I’m in a place where I can concentrate on my solo work. I can do anything I want now, and not have to worry about stopping and going back to Fleetwood Mac.”

At the same time, Nicks admits that “Fleetwood Mac is all over my set. Now that there is no more Fleetwood Mac, that opens the door for me to do other songs, like The Chain, that I’ve never done [solo]. I will keep the music of Fleetwood Mac alive, for as long as I can.”

Um...except you did perform The Chain solo in 1994.

As for the rest...the excuses are endless with this woman. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

I don't think I've ever seen that performance.

Do I want to watch this, Big Al?

It’s not the worst thing. If I’m not mistaken she only did this a few times at some 1994 shows and I believe Rick Vito was in her band at the time.

She's free to do Races Are Run, too! :laugh:

While Fleetwood Mac operated successfully between 1998 and 2014 largely without McVie, her absence heaped more onus on Nicks and Buckingham to front the band in tandem. But, as she explains, a détente between her and Buckingham – following the guitarist’s exit from the band in 2018, the two last crossed paths at a memorial service for McVie in early 2023 – wouldn’t necessarily clear the way to a final tour.

“Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problems,” says Nicks, referring to Buckingham’s emergency open heart surgery in 2019. “It’s not for me to say, but I’m not sure if Lindsey could do the kind of touring that Fleetwood Mac does, where you go out for a year and half. It’s so demanding.”


So now her excuse is that it's Lindsey's health that impacts any new Mac shows or tours??? SMH

Mick actually said things much better at the Grammys after Christine's death with a touch of class, grace and realism given the Stevie/Lindsey situation and an unspoken nod to John's health.

“I think right now, I truly think the line in the sand has been drawn with the loss of Chris. I’d say we’re done, but then we’ve all said that before. It’s sort of unthinkable right now.”

Does anyone remember that interview that Christine gave to BBC Radio 2 in which she envisioned one last tour but without Stevie and John? I wonder who else would have been on stage?

What's she's trying to say is, "Even if I didn't hate his guts, he can't tour anyway."

Love her for staying away from the band she torched anyway.

but do we even know if that's true?? :shrug:

Clearly John has zero interest in touring again... he's sold all his gear, etc. Chris is gone, and now he's lost his wife.... and of course, he was the one for a time whose health was really fragile, so much so they stopped doing shows for a while. So it's not clear HE could take the rigors of the road again, even if he wanted to (which he seems pretty clear not to want).

Wasn't Lindsey talking about another solo tour...?

It just feels like she's glossing over a lot in order to point the finger at Lindsey's health as the definitive factor....

It also feels like a bit of a gloat.... Chris is dead, John fought health issues, Lindsey (according to her) continues to have health-related limitations, but boy here I am still standing and even selling out big venues like the boss b*tch I am......

That's exactly what it is. Goat is gloating. I'm agreeing with you.

Keep in mind I absolutely do not want Fleetwood Mac to get back together at all, but if you’re the type who breaks out the Fleetwood Mac decoder ring, they’re giving a boatload of lines to read between.

The more they talk about how Fleetwood Mac is over/doesn’t exist anymore, the more it seems like there’s something going on in the background. Like, why did Mike and Stevie bring up Lindsey? Lindsey was fired and isn’t a member of the band, so I don’t understand why the Stevie-Lindsey dynamic suddenly matters.

Then, Mick made a cameo with Crowded House after Neil was brutally honest about the 2018-19 tour and made it clear Stevie wanted to keep things as close to what Lindsey would do as possible.

If Stevie had said that she refuses to be the only vocalist from Rumours fronting Fleetwood Mac and still refuses to work with Lindsey again, I’d totally buy it’s over, stop asking. But, she leaves the door ever so slightly cracked with an “even if I could work with Lindsey again…”.

—

There are also no plans for additional shows with Fleetwood Mac, even though Campbell toured with them in 2018 and 2019, effectively taking Lindsey Buckingham’s place alongside Neil Finn of Crowded House. “I don’t see how they can go forward without Christine [McVie] or Lindsey [Buckingham]. Stevie [Nicks] is real busy doing her thing; she seems to be blazing a trail,” he says. “I spoke to Mick [Fleetwood] not too long ago, and it’s kind of up to Stevie if she wants to go in that direction.

There’s some stuff with Stevie and Lindsey that would have to be worked out,” he continues. “I’m sure the audience would love to see them get together again. But as far as I know, I would kind of doubt that’s going to happen.” -Mike Campbell, 2024

—

While Fleetwood Mac operated successfully between 1998 and 2014 largely without McVie, her absence heaped more onus on Nicks and Buckingham to front the band in tandem. But, as she explains, a détente between her and Buckingham – following the guitarist’s exit from the band in 2018, the two last crossed paths at a memorial service for McVie in early 2023 – wouldn’t necessarily clear the way to a final tour.

“Even if I thought I could work with Lindsey again, he’s had some health problems,” says Nicks, referring to Buckingham’s emergency open heart surgery in 2019. “It’s not for me to say, but I’m not sure if Lindsey could do the kind of touring that Fleetwood Mac does, where you go out for a year and half. It’s so demanding.” -Stevie Nicks, 2024

^^^^^

God I hope you're wrong. But, I understood every reference you've made here. And, I did think about it for a split second as well as I was piecing the clues together. I have a bias, and I just don't want to see anything more from them. And don't want to hear her god awful vocals with any of the FM members.

Dear god, please just let it be over. 2018 forward has been just fukcing pathetic, so just let it die.

Same same.


I definitely wondered why this keeps coming out with NO ONE, now not even Stevie, putting the final nail in the coffin once and for all "We are done and will never tour again"...

I also find it curious that she suggests IF the Mac went out again it would be a full year and a half tour. Really? Does it need to be that?? I don't even know if SHE and her voice could handle it... Maybe that's her way of pushing it off within whatever band discussions might be going on...."well if we go out, it would take up a year and a half" thinking maybe Lindsey won't want to be out that long or can't be.... I would also add that the reason it might have to stretch that long is because of HER physical limitations, i.e., that her voice can't do lots of shows back to back, and she requires multiple days off after every so many shows (so much so that Chrissie Hynde was able to book in club dates etc. between their shows together and frankly, Lindsey could have logistically done the same for the same reason.. but I digress). Maybe it's her flexing her power to get more concessions from the rest of them, and especially Lindsey... For instance I wonder, if they did tour again, would he get to hold the title of Musical Director, or would she insist on someone else? (wouldn't be herself, because no way she'll take on the grind of rehearsing the band e.g. the additional players etc, and frankly she wouldn't be capable). Would she demand final say on musicians? Would she demand final say on the setlist, stage design, etc? Also, just HOW MUCH of an additional cut would she demand of the profits? Would she demand 60% and give Lindsey 15 and John and Mick like 12.5 each? Would she demand her OWN jet? She's already getting the Presidential Suite everywhere so not sure how they'd up that.... Would she demand extra billing i.e., 'Fleetwood Mac featuring Stevie Nicks'??
You know Irving would hold them hostage for everything on her behalf.... Is he still managing the band? If I were Lindsey that right there would be the deal breaker for me......
It's all too grotesque to think about. And I still really have doubts about John, so... would they just replace him??
Just don't see it all coming together no matter how much dithering is going on behind the scenes...

Also, Stevie makes Christine's death about herself:

“It was all stunningly strange, because there wasn’t any lead up to it,” says Nicks of McVie’s death following a stroke in Autumn 2022. “We got a call, and I was going to rent a plane and go see her, but her family said, ‘Don’t come, because she may not be here tomorrow.’ And the next day, she passed away.
“I wanted to go there and sit on her bed and sing to her – which definitely would have made her pass away faster,” jokes Nicks to MOJO’s Bob Mehr through tears. “But I needed to be with her. And I didn’t get to do that. So that was very hard for me. I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

My first reaction to this is, take Lindsey‘s name out your damn mouth!

So totally presumptuous of her to speak about his health in the context of what the band could get back together or not. It seems highly unlikely to me that she knows about his health directly from him. Why would someone who has been nothing but negative about him for years now pretend to care about his health? Or have license to speak about it? I can only imagine how he and his family felt when she sent him her letter scolding him to take care of himself. This is literally none of her business.

Don’t get me wrong. I think they’re both toxic And each have responsibility for the nature of their relationship. I don’t know why she can’t just focus on her career and stop using the band to generate PR.

Dick Fleetwood ALLOWED HER to become FM.

She RUINED the band.

She's a HORRIBLE, SELFISH, NARCISSISTIC person.

I hope she gets her just rewards. Meaning....#>÷,_[< [)#;>/"&.

That says she can't and doesn't want to be on a stage with Lindsey EVER again. She doesn't think she could, she doesn't want to, and she wants to be in her non-challenged zone where there's no debate. That's the final delivery there. The door is not open. And I think like bombaysaffires said, she's flexing her health muscles. Not only does she want to close the door but she wants to take a hit on the way out where she's essentially saying Lindsey's not in shape and not in good health. Though she just postponed two concerts of her own and again as bombaysaffires says, requires days of rest in between shows.

This interview was the last answer. MusiCares was the last time The Rumours lineup performed and will have been the final time the SYW lineup performed.

Focus on her own career? She’s managed for the past 15+ years to make her career all about the past and her persona as a member of Fleetwood Mac. Even Songs from the Vault was about the past, not the present. She’ll keep bringing up Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey until her final days because that’s all she’s got. What would the current UNCUT magazine article headline be if she didn’t dredge up this same tired crap? There’s no new album and she’s playing the most unexciting pedestrian set-list that really hasn’t changed much in 5 years. So yeah…since she’s largely done as a songwriter and as a member of Fleetwood Mac, I’m not shocked for a minute she’s choosing to b*tch that Christine’s death didn’t go the way she wanted it to. How insane can she possibly be.

Well she had the opportunity to say those exact words and *shocker* she didn’t.

And as much as she loved Christine as her best friend, she refused to work with her in the studio from 2014 on. You can't say it was just Lindsey she didn't want to work with. She then attacked both of them to save face in 2017 to say "I don't get THEIR premise". I can't believe what she's become. As Jim said The Trump of Fleetwood Mac. And in concert she's like an emcee of a pasta dinner in a Knights of Columbus Hall with her 45 minutes of talking.

Christine was never her best friend. They looked out for one another on the road and got along quite well. Did they enjoy each others company while traveling in the band, absolutely! For 16 years while Christine was away Stevie took vacations all over the world, to my knowledge did she ever swing over to London to see “her best friend in the entire world?” Nope.

It’s curious that we’ve never heard Christine tell the same “we made a pact” story that became one of Stevie’s favorite tales for the press.

Like most things that come out of her mouth these days, it’s an exaggerated pile of crap.

Just Christine's death? :laugh::wavey:

And the pasta isn't even that good.

Yeah…mediocre wedding reception pasta. Dried out and over priced.

I quite like the crispy, dried out frazzled cheesy bits of pasta..
from the edge of the bowl that you have to dig at with a spoon
…just saying..

Why does this board have an incessant need to take that out of context?

Here’s the full quote:

What she’s saying is that she doesn’t understand their premise that it would have been a Fleetwood Mac album if she had participated, since she was on tour. She then goes on to give a justification for why Christine should have made the album.

Regardless, it's the biggest pile of garbage to come out of her mouth in quite some time. She attempts to dodge her lack of participation by speaking for Christine and justifying why she wanted to participate. "I wish them the best in whatever they do" is what you write in an email when an employee you couldn't stand leaves the company.

She knew she couldn't get away with her usual "Lindsey is so horrible to work with" lines because Christine spent months praising the process of working with him.

Not taken out of context at all. Stevie was welcomed by Fleetwood Mac from early 2014 through 2016 (before she started her Fall 2016 Tour). Stevie decided not to make an album with FM because she didn’t want to as early as winter/spring 2014. From early 2014, it was understood that FM would be making an album, see the LA Times piece. In Mick’s 2014 book, he says we’re waiting for Stevie to join us in the studio and we’ll be ready for her. The 2016 Tour did not prevent her from making a Fleetwood Mac album. She decided to go on that tour and it was a decision made in late August 2016. There was plenty of time to record from 2014-2016. She’s saying FM never waited for her tour to finish so she could participate, not “I didn’t want to make a FM album.”

“I just needed my two years off.”

Same difference

Such a shame chris's death didn't go how stevie wanted it to. she is so mindblowingly self-absorbed in just about everything she says. thank god the people across the pond knew how to keep things quiet. Chris made her choices, and she had *the people she wanted* with her. end of story.

and the whole nasty comment about how lindsey might not able to handle a tour? ugh. she uses chris being gone as an excuse for no more FM when it's really because she doesn't want to speak to lindsey.

the whole thing needs to just be over, so I'm glad it is.

--Lis

I guess this is what 45 years of being surrounded by your PAID "yes friends" does to you.
EVERYTHING
IS
ABOUT
YOU.

She's really become a disgusting human being.

god I hope FM is over.

Tony texted me his sentiment. "she bores me" :laugh:

No. What’s your answer for her not being a team player in 2014 by choosing not to join the band in the studio? She was not required to give Reprise/Warners another album in the near future. You make it seem like LBCM only started after the OWTS Tour ended. Also, the band went forward and recorded in 2016 and 2017. She chose not to. Rules for Lindsey and Christine, but not for Stevie. I’m not the boss. This is a team. If people really are FM fans, they’d have said Stevie refused since 2014 to make an FM album. And she refused to make one with Neal and Mike.
I don’t understand their premise was a lie. The album recording started WELL before her tour that was not a tour to promote her 2014 album.

It’s over. She gave Lindsey the final blow in this interview. Basically called him an invalid.

I'm so glad Christine's family was able to make sure the right people were there and were able to tactfully keep the Stevie circus parked in LA. I can't even imagine how it would have gone otherwise. I just cringe.

I'm sure it bothers her to no end that John was there and she wasn't. I bet team Karen loved delivering that news. Good thing the band is done, John would have gotten the axe next.

Edit: oh wait, remember that time Mick and Stevie floated replacing him when he had cancer? Wonderful humans, those two. Truly.

She would have ruined it. god I hate her guts.