she said - he said why Lindsey Left

[Villavic]

I don't believe Stevie theory. As she said "And I think one of the reasons that Lindsey left is because I was very, very high... " so she wants to think that way, but even if it was true, I guess it was a very very little reason compared with the others.

What Mick described in his book (an episode that generated several threads and discussions here), coincides better with the Lindsey article and to this day I still believe on it:

August 7, 1987.

We gathered at Christine's house, where from the start feelings ran high. No one wanted to face the humiliation of a canceled tour it was like a hideous specter from our distant past except for Lindsey, who just wanted out. The meeting was civil for about five minutes. Stevie felt devastated. She took Lindsey's rejection of us personally. "You can't do this," she said. "Why are you doing this?"

Lindsey apologised. "Look, I'm sorry. I just can't do any more. I've given twelve years of my life to this band! I've done it all arranged, produced, played guitar, sang. I just can't... hack it... and do it all anymore." Christine spoke now. "What do you mean, Lindsey, do it all?" Her tone was withering. It was her singles, after all, that got played on the radio, not Lindsey's. This was a sore spot, because in interviews Lindsey had been describing his role in the band as the grand interpreter of Chris's and Stevie's music to the world as if he felt he had carried the rest of the band. Nobody liked this, especially now. Lindsey was silent. No one knew what to say. Lindsey had given his answer.

I looked over at Stevie, who was brushing back tears. "Lindsey," she said, "you've broken my f***ing heart on this." "Hey," he said, turning on Stevie and becoming agitated, "don't do this again. Don't start attacking me." "Watch out, Lindsey," Stevie said. "There's other people in the room besides yourself." "Oh s***!" Lindsey shouted. "Get this bitch out of my way. And f*** the lot of you!" A great hue and cry now ensued. Lindsey headed out to his car, and Stevie followed him outside to the courtyard, trying to change his mind. It was a terribly sad moment, because I could tell that even in her anger, a part of Stevie still loved Lindsey Buckingham and didn't want him to leave Fleetwood Mac. She didn't want him to go. They exchanged words in Chris's courtyard for a few moments. I didn't hear what he said, but Stevie cried out, "Hey, man, you'll never be in love with anyone but yourself!"

Then it got physical. Lindsey grabbed Stevie and slapped her and bent her backwards over the hood of his car. Was he going to hit her again? He'd done it before. Suddenly Dennis Dunstan and Stevie's manager Tony Dimitriades pulled Lindsey off her and told him that was enough. Lindsey then came back into the house, very distraught. He shouted, "Get that woman out of my life that schizophrenic bitch!" Christine was furious. "Lindsey, look at yourself, screaming like a madman." There was a silence. And John McVie quietly said to Lindsey Buckingham, "I think you'd better leave now."
"You're a bunch of selfish bastards," Lindsey said, and walked out. He sat in his car in the driveway for fifteen minutes, obviously distraught, but nobody wanted to go to him. Eventually, we heard him start his motor and leave.

John has confirmed he said that but he was meaning leave the house, not the band.