Syndicated fluff item

[Les]

I'm not exactly sure where this was published, but this is from one of those syndicated gossip columns that make the rounds (3/27):

By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

--The forthcoming Fleetwood Mac "Say You Will" album and tour is already being treated as a major event on radio stations across the country. Still, the group's Lindsey Buckingham says he's not sure what to expect when the disc is released next month. "The band hasn't put out new music in a long time," he notes. "There could be a lot of reactions other than ones you'd like." Such as?

"How old are they?" he says, laughing. Actually, "There's a cliche about rock and rollers burning out, becoming jaded and not caring by their late 30s. It doesn't seem like people allow for the idea of a band who are all in their 50s coming in and starting one of their best phases of music," Lindsey says. "And yet, you think about painting, writing, other forms of composing. A lot of those artists didn't hit their stride until they were 50 years old. I'm aligned with that kind of thinking. We're in a position to do something significant here," says the 53-year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist.

On the personal side, Buckingham makes it clear he's in a very good phase indeed. Fleetwood Mac's well-known proclivity toward intergroup romance and emotional drama has subsided. Notes Lindsey, who lived with Stevie Nicks back in the old days, "I always said I wanted to settle down and have kids and all that sort of thing - and I have. It was a matter of finding the right person - and finding myself," says Buckingham, who has son William (age 4) and daughter LeeLee (age 2) with wife Kristen Messner. In fact, he and Mick Fleetwood - who has 1-year-old twin daughters - have worked out arrangements so they'll be with their families through much of the tour, which kicks off in May.