Where Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham Stand After Fallout

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Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are making peace at the silver spring.

Fleetwood Mac’s members, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, first performed together as a duo before joining the band in 1974. For the past 50 years, they’ve frequently talked about their difficult relationship. Now that they’re on better terms, they’re reflecting on how their passionate but troubled romance, which lasted from 1972 to 1976, inspired some of their most famous songs, including one called “Frozen Love.”

Stevie described their relationship as a rollercoaster – full of ups and downs and challenges, but also incredibly wonderful. She shared this on the October 29th episode of the Song Exploder podcast, where she appeared with Lindsey to talk about their song.

The 77-year-old explained that despite the challenges in the relationship, the positive aspects made it all worthwhile.

Before recording “Frozen Love” on the 1973 album Buckingham Nicks – which was recently remastered and re-released in August – Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were high school students growing up in Northern California.

Stevie said that she and Lindsey were discussing it the night before, and it all felt incredibly recent to them, like it had just happened.

After resolving their differences, Stevie and Lindsey have been fondly remembering the time before they became famous musicians.

Stevie Nicks said she first noticed Lindsey Buckingham because of his voice, which she heard when they were both in high school in Northern California.

You know, I was chatting with Stevie Wonder recently, and he shared a really sweet memory with me. He was in a large space and heard someone singing ‘California Dreamin” from across the room. He instantly recognized the tune – it just clicked with him right away! It’s funny how music can do that, isn’t it? A familiar song can transport you back in time or create an instant connection, even from a distance.

The Grammy-winning artist walked over to the 76-year-old and began to sing harmonies with him.

She remembered thinking, ‘I’m going to go up and sing, even if he doesn’t like it.’ So she did. She walked up to him, smiled, stood behind him, and started singing harmony to ‘California Dreamin’. She said it was a wonderful experience.

Oh my gosh, can you believe they didn’t really meet until two years after singing together on that Mamas & the Papas song?! It’s so crazy! They were both in this band called Fritz, and even though Fritz didn’t make it big, Lindsey said it was exactly what Stevie and he needed to really connect. It’s like, that band failing brought them together, which is just… everything! It’s so romantic and perfect, knowing that even setbacks can lead to something amazing between them.

Stevie explained that their relationship likely wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t had to dismiss the other members of their band.

As she remembered, “Then we fell in love and that was it.”

When Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks began collaborating, they inspired each other creatively while writing songs for their 1973 album, Buckingham Nicks. This creative partnership continued after they joined Fleetwood Mac.

Stevie said she and Lindsey agreed it was okay to include each other in their songwriting. They figured, ‘What else would we write about?’ It wasn’t about questioning if a song was about the other person, or getting upset about it. They simply appreciated the work itself, saying things like, ‘That’s really good.’

Stevie and Lindsey’s relationship has always been up and down, and they frequently argued while performing with Fleetwood Mac. Although they generally managed to collaborate peacefully after the band reunited in 1997, Lindsey was removed from the group in 2018 because of internal issues.

Before recently making amends, Stevie and Lindsey had only exchanged brief greetings. Their last real conversation happened at the memorial service for Fleetwood Mac’s keyboardist Christine McVie, who passed away in 2022.

In a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, she said she only spoke to Lindsey for about three minutes. She added that she tried to work with him for a long time, feeling she’d given him countless opportunities—more than 300 million, in her words.

For a deep dive into Stevie and Lindsey’s relationship, keep reading.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham first met as high school classmates, long before they became famous as a couple. Buckingham recalled that Nicks transferred to his school as a senior, and they occasionally played music together at social events. Nicks went on to attend San José State University, and Buckingham followed after graduating high school.

While at San José State, Nicks joined Buckingham’s band, Fritz, though they weren’t romantically involved at the time. Nicks later said that her ambition intimidated the other band members, but they also didn’t want anyone else to date her.

After Fritz disbanded in the early 1970s, Nicks and Buckingham formed the duo Buckingham Nicks, and their musical partnership soon blossomed into a romantic relationship. They spent countless hours writing songs together, and as Nicks explained, they began spending all their time together, and a relationship naturally developed.

You haven’t heard the full story until you know how Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks became part of Fleetwood Mac.

A 2009 BBC documentary, Fleetwood Mac: Don’t Stop, reveals that in 1974, drummer Mick Fleetwood visited Sound City Studios in Los Angeles to assess the recording quality. He was played a song by the duo Buckingham Nicks and was immediately struck by Buckingham’s guitar skills. Fleetwood was looking to replace Bob Welch and decided to ask Buckingham to join the band, which already included John and Christine McVie.

Fleetwood confessed in the documentary that he initially focused on Buckingham’s talent. “I didn’t really consider Stevie at all,” he said. Nicks apparently never forgot this, feeling like Fleetwood only wanted Buckingham. Fleetwood acknowledged this was true at first, but the pair quickly became inseparable.

Buckingham confirmed that he needed Nicks’ approval before making any decision. He told Fleetwood, “I’ll have to talk to my girlfriend about it, but if I join, you’re going to have to take her too.”

It was definitely the right decision to continue making music together. Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart and included popular songs like “Landslide,” “Rhiannon,” “Over My Head,” and “Say You Love Me.”

They then began working on their 1977 album, Rumours, which would later win Album of the Year.

However, as the band’s popularity grew, the personal relationships within the group were falling apart. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, John and Christine McVie, and Mick Fleetwood and his wife Jenny Boyd were all experiencing difficulties.

In the documentary Don’t Stop, Nicks explained, “When we joined Fleetwood Mac, things were already tough between Lindsey and me. I think we all silently agreed to try and fix our relationships, because we couldn’t afford to break up. If we did, Fleetwood Mac would be over.”

Despite their efforts, the relationships did end. The McVies divorced in 1976, and Nicks and Buckingham split up, followed later by Fleetwood and Boyd.

Fans can hear the turmoil in the music itself—songs like Christine McVie’s “Don’t Stop,” Stevie Nicks’ “Dreams,” and Lindsey Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way” all reflect what they were going through.

“My songs were all about Lindsey, and Lindsey’s songs were all about me,” Nicks said, “but we just had to put it aside and play the music.”

Oh, it was a whirlwind! Even as relationships within the band crumbled, they kept making music – albums like Tusk in ’79 and Mirage in ’82. And Stevie… Stevie was blossoming on her own! Bella Donna in ’81 was just the beginning, followed by The Wild Heart and Rock a Little. But it wasn’t easy, not for her. She bravely faced her struggles with addiction, and she’s so honest about how it affected everything, even missing parts of recording Tango in the Night. 1987… that was a year. Lindsey leaving right before tour? It was explosive! She actually told them she almost strangled him, a huge fight in Christine’s driveway… it was devastating. Still, she kept going, releasing solo work and staying with Fleetwood Mac, even with Billy Burnette and Rick Vito stepping in after Lindsey left. But then came the fight over ‘Silver Springs’… she just wanted the song back, something she’d written, and they wouldn’t give it to her! She gave them an ultimatum – find the tapes by Monday or she was done. It was heartbreaking, but she stood her ground, and honestly, I totally get it. It was her song!

In 1997, the members of Fleetwood Mac – Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John and Christine McVie, and Mick Fleetwood – came together for a concert broadcast on MTV, which was later released as a live album called The Dance. Though Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had a history of conflict, they seemed ready to move past some of their issues.

Stevie Nicks explained in a 1997 interview with the Arizona Republic that she and Lindsey Buckingham rarely have deep conversations. They mostly avoid discussing things when they’re not performing. Both are cautious about upsetting each other. However, when they’re on stage, the energy of the performance allows them to connect and express themselves, often leading to a release of emotions and ideas.

Oh my god, 2003! Say You Will came out and it was everything! And then, for years, Lindsey and Stevie were doing their own thing and still touring with Fleetwood Mac – it was amazing seeing them on stage, both separately and together! But then… 2018. It was awful. They just… let Lindsey go. Mick Fleetwood tried to downplay it, saying it wasn’t about ‘firing’ anyone, but that they’d hit a wall and had to make a decision for the band to work. He talked about ‘majority rules’ and needing to move forward. It was so cold! And then Lindsey finally addressed it during one of his shows… he said he’d sadly left the band after 43 years, and it wasn’t his decision. He hinted at disagreements and said some members had ‘lost their perspective.’ I was heartbroken for him! It just wasn’t the same without Lindsey, not at all.

Despite going their separate ways, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks collaborated once more. Fifty-two years after their first album, Buckingham Nicks, they announced a refreshed version. A message on YouTube on August 13, 2025, stated the 1973 album would be available September 19th with remastered sound for both CD and digital platforms. To give fans a preview, they also re-released their song “Don’t Let Me Down Again.”

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2025-10-30 23:53