Lindsey Buckingham has said his firing from Fleetwood Mac “harmed the legacy” that the band had established over 43 years.

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The guitarist was fired from the group back in 2018, and was replaced by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.

Buckingham’s former bandmate Stevie Nicks later explained that the musician was kicked out because he wanted too much time off to concentrate on his solo career.

He denied that was the case and claimed the band’s manager, Irving Azoff, called him at home in LA to pass on a message from Nicks. “Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again,” he was reportedly told.

During a new interview on the WTF With Marc Maron Podcast (released yesterday, July 29), Buckingham spoke of the issues that arose between himself and Nicks – and whether a return could be on the cards.

He told Maron that he’d asked the band for “an extra three months” to put out a solo album and take it on tour in the US before resuming his duties with Fleetwood Mac
“There was certainly one person who did not want to bestow that on me,” Buckingham said, before confirming that the individual in question was Nicks.

“To be fair, everyone was anxious to get on the road but we’ve all made time for each other’s [side projects]. I’ve been in the band for 43 years for God’s sake… Jesus!”

He continued: “That sort of led to other things that kind of built up around that. And then it just got to the point where someone [Nicks] just didn’t want to work with me anymore.

“And other people [in the group] were perhaps not feeling empowered enough to stand up for me when possibly they should have or could have.”

Buckingham added: “I’m not saying that I can’t be hard to get along with sometimes, but if you put it in a larger context of all the things that Fleetwood Mac has been through and what we’ve risen above in order to keep our eye on the larger picture and in order to fulfil our destiny over and over again…

“What was most disappointing about it to me was not, ‘Oh, I’m not gonna get to do this tour’. What it was [is] again, we spent 43 years building this legacy which was about rising above things – it stood for more than the music.

“And by allowing this to happen through some levels of weakness – my own weakness included – I think we did some harm to that legacy. And that’s a shame.”

Buckingham went on to say that he has not been in contact with Nicks since his departure, apart from when she sent him a letter following his heart attack in 2019.

He said that he is still in touch with Mick Fleetwood, who he spoke to following the death of Peter Green last summer.

“Me and him [Fleetwood] are soulmates and always will be,” he told Maron. “We love each other and reinforced each other’s sensibilities in the band.”

As for a potential return to Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham said he’s not sure whether it would be “doable or not”.

Meanwhile, Buckingham is set to release his new self-titled solo album on September 17. He has previewed the project with the singles “I Don’t Mind” and “On The Wrong Side”.