Man, catching up on this thread has been a trip. First, no one has really disputed that Lindsey was the draw for BN to be hired by FM. His being the initial draw doesn't diminish the obvious star power of SN or her significant contributions to their success. Without her, I don't think the band is a viable stadium act. She knows that, we know that, the band knows that.
So if Stevie isn't in, I don't think you get Mike Campbell or even Neil Finn devoting time to FM touring. MC is connected to Stevie, and he's not going to tour without her. Neil has his own legendary band, and trying a big tour with FM on a lark once is fun, but grinding out a less luxe and less well paid without her is probably not that big a draw. He could play those same venues (or close) with Crowded House.
I would be very surprised to see some Stevie-less version of the band make a serious go of anything. They're all motivated to do the Rumours 5 arena tours because it's huge audiences and huge money. Once you are looking at less money and smaller audiences, I doubt they will be motivated in the same way.
Lindsey could just do his own solo stuff and keep making albums at home, and Chris and John could just enjoy retirement and maybe do some guest spots on Lindsey's solo stuff. Mick is the hard one to predict. He may always be trying to wrangle the others into a Rumours 5 reunion payday, and if Stevie ever says yes, I think it's very possible they will reunite for another farewell tour.
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