This Fleetwood Mac Member Was Fired by Fax

When most people think of Fleetwood Mac, they picture the band’s 1970s lineup. However, the group has seen plenty of other musicians, but they didn’t always stick around very long. One singer, Bekka Bramlett, was actually fired from Fleetwood Mac via fax. 

Bekka Bramlett joined Fleetwood Mac in the 1990s

Bramlett, the daughter of 70s rock duo Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, first linked up with the members of Fleetwood Mac through one of drummer Mick Fleetwood’s solo projects. She sang with his other band, the Zoo, through 1991 and 1992. 

The next year, Fleetwood and bassist John McVie decided to go out on the road and tour as Fleetwood Mac — without singer Stevie Nicks, guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, or pianist and vocalist Christine McVie. 

“We ended up with a bunch of talented people playing good music, but they should not have been touring as Fleetwood Mac,” Mick Fleetwood wrote in his 2014 memoir “Play On” (via Rolling Stone). “There were too many essential pieces missing from the machine this time. We were a totally different band, with only the original drummer and bass player, and our original name.”

Bramlett agreed, telling Rolling Stone that she knew the arrangement was “temporary” and knew “there is no replacing Stevie Nicks.” The singer even refused to sing any of Nicks’ signature songs, like “Rihannon,” “Dreams,” and “Landslide.”

After touring with Fleetwood Mac, the band’s new lineup decided to go into the studio, where they recorded 1995’s Time. The album didn’t sell well, but Bramlett said she wasn’t “disappointed” by the low sales, saying, “I was just there…my job was to get Stevie back.”

Bekka Bramlett said leaving Fleetwood Mac was ‘heartbreaking’: ‘Mick fired me on a fax’

Even though Bramlett said she knew her time as a singer in Fleetwood Mac was temporary, she admitted that finding out the band’s original lineup was returning was “heartbreaking.” Part of what made it so upsetting was how she found out she was fired. 

“Mick fired me on a fax,” the singer shared. She didn’t say what exactly the fax said because it was “private,” but did say Fleetwood “never said that Stevie was coming back. Let’s put it that way.” Bramlett also revealed that a personal conversation between her and the rest of the band might have also led to her firing. 

After complaining that Fleetwood Mac’s members always started picking apart their performances as soon as they got off stage, Bramlett said she wished she was touring with REO Speedwagon, who she sang with previously. 

“On my fax, [Fleetwood] said, ‘You wish you were in REO Speedwagon, so I’m going to go ahead and fire you now,’” she said. “And then, of course, it was on CNN within 10 days. ‘Stevie Nicks is back with Fleetwood Mac!’”

Since leaving Fleetwood Mac, Bekka Bramlett has worked with stars like Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, and Faith Hill

Following her split with Fleetwood Mac, Bramlett continued working as a backup vocalist. She has sung with stars like Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Seger, Faith Hill, Robert Plant, and Vince Gill. 

Bramlett and Fleetwood are also still close. The pair even re-released one of the tracks they worked on in 1995 with Fleetwood Mac, “These Strange Times.” She also said that, while her time with the band ended abruptly, Fleetwood Mac’s music still reminds her of happy childhood memories.