Stevie Nicks Said Lindsey Buckingham Was “The Musical Love of [Her] Life”
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have delighted fans with their music, both as solo artists and as part of Fleetwood Mac, for decades. Not only were the two rock stars bandmates, but they were also lovers for a long time.
Nicks once called Buckingham “the musical love of [her] life,” but she had some other choice words to say about her former bandmate. Here’s what Nicks said and where she stands with Buckingham today.
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have a long history together
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have a long and storied history that predates them joining the band that made them rock stars.
Nicks and Buckingham were high school sweethearts. They were part of the band Frits together before breaking off and forming the duo Buckingham Nicks. It was hearing the Buckingham Nicks song “Frozen Love” that made Mick Fleetwood, one of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac, ask Buckingham to join the classic rock supergroup.
The guitarist agreed, on one condition: that Nicks joined the band, too. The first two albums Nicks and Buckingham helped Fleetwood Mac make were Fleetwood Mac and Rumours, which catapulted the band to new heights of fame.
But Nicks and Buckingham’s relationship couldn’t survive the rock and roll lifestyle they adopted. After breaking up, they continued to work, tour, and perform on stage together for years.
Stevie Nicks called Lindsey Buckingham ‘the musical love of [her] life’
The “Gypsy” singer opened up about her relationship with Buckingham in a 2001 interview with ABC News. When asked if the guitarist was the love of her life, Nicks responded, “He was the musical love of my life. And I would have really given up anything for him because of that. It was more than just a love relationship. It was everything.”
It sounds like the rock stars’ relationship was intense, and it also sounds like it didn’t end well. Immediately after talking about Buckingham, Nicks revealed the one piece of advice she gave fellow artist Sheryl Crow.
“What I tell Sheryl Crow: Don’t get interested in somebody who’s going to go back on the road,” Nicks said. “Men are going to go out on the road, and they’re going to find other women. So if you really want to save yourself a whole lot of heartache, do not fall in love with somebody in a band. Just don’t.”
Nicks went on to explain that a relationship with a man on tour rarely works out, in her experience. “Because it just doesn’t ever work. It’s too much to ask of them to be true … In my book, it’s a rule. It’s just an invitation to heartache … If you want to find somebody and you want to be married, and you want to have children, don’t make it a rock star.”
The former couple is not on good terms
Although they were once romantic partners and continued working together for years after their breakup, it seems that Buckingham and Nicks are no longer on good terms.
Fleetwood Mac fired Buckingham in 2018, and the guitarist has implied many times that Nicks was responsible. He believes she gave an ultimatum to the rest of the band; they either had to fire him, or she would leave the group. Nicks has denied issuing an ultimatum but has also said she could not continue working with Buckingham.
The year after Fleetwood Mac fired Buckingham, he had a heart attack that required triple-bypass surgery. He told the LA Times in September 2021 that Nicks contacted him after the procedure and that he had emailed and texted her a few times since, but she doesn’t usually respond.
“She’s very guarded and protective of her own world, and I think she sees me as a potential upsetter of that,” Buckingham said.
