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Christine McVie opened up about the relationship between her Fleetwood Mac bandmates Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Here’s what McVie said about the “tension” between the former couple and her friendships with Nicks and Buckingham.

A black and white photo of Fleetwood Mac posing together for a portrait.
Fleetwood Mac: (L-R) John McVie, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buckingham | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Christine McVie said there was ‘always that tension’ between Fleetwood Mac bandmates Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had a turbulent relationship for many years. The former couple joined Fleetwood Mac on New Year’s Eve 1974 as a duo, and they helped the band rocket to fame with their 1975 self-titled album and 1977’s Rumours. Many of the songs from that era were about Nicks and Buckingham’s roller-coaster romance and bitter breakup. 

Despite their split, the two musicians continued working together for decades, even though there was always “tension” between them.

“There’s always that tension between Stevie and Lindsey,” Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie told Creative Loafing in 2017. “That’s always going to be there.”

McVie said that, despite their complicated history, everyone in the band – including Buckingham – “adored” Nicks.

“… We all adore Stevie. Even Lindsey does,” she shared. “But I think the whole world knows about the tension between them; there’s no point in me denying it. It’s some kind of love/hate thing, I don’t know – we could never get to the bottom of it.”

Christine McVie once ‘slapped’ Lindsey Buckingham to defend Stevie Nicks

When Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham fought in front of the rest of Fleetwood Mac, the other bandmates, including Christine McVie, occasionally intervened. 

During the New Zealand leg of the band’s 1980 “Tusk” tour, Buckingham allegedly mocked, tripped, and tried to kick Nicks on stage. McVie became so enraged that she slapped him after the show.

“I think he’s the only person I ever, ever slapped,” the keyboardist admitted (via Washington Post). “I actually might have chucked a glass of wine, too.”

The “Songbird” singer not only defended Nicks but was also upset that Buckingham disrespected the fans. “I just didn’t think it was the way to treat a paying audience,” McVie said. “I mean, aside from making a mockery of Stevie like that. Really unprofessional, over the top.”

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The ‘Songbird’ singer was close to all of her Fleetwood Mac bandmates

Although Christine McVie went through many ups and downs with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, she stayed friends with everyone in Fleetwood Mac. 

The keyboardist praised Buckingham’s production skills, saying he transformed what she called her “horrible little demos.”

“We started exchanging tapes and things back and forth, Lindsey and I, my horrible little demos that I’d written,” McVie told CBS News in 2014. “And he then listened to them and rebuilt them in Buckingham style. ’Cause Lindsey’s always produced my songs. And I love the way he plays and works with my songs. And so he sent them back to me, his version of my demos, and loved them.”

In January 2015, McVie told the New Yorker about the meaningful gift Nicks gave her when the keyboardist returned to Fleetwood Mac following a 15-year hiatus. It was a silver chain link bracelet with a diamond feather. 

“Stevie gave me this chain,” she said while playing with the jewelry on her wrist. “It used to have a diamond feather on it. It’s a metaphor, you know. That the chain of the band will never be broken. Not by me, anyways. Not again by me.”

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