Originally formed in the late 1960s as a British blues rock group, Fleetwood Mac was propelled by Peter Green’s inventive guitar work. According to some fans, this was the band’s pinnacle performance. Even so, a larger percentage of people support the band’s most financially lucrative period in the late 1970s, which saw a total sonic makeover with the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
Rumours, the group’s second album featuring the American duo, is renowned for being rife with marital problems and cocaine addiction. While pursuing other romantic interests, such as Nicks’ 1977 liaison with Don Henley of the Eagles and later an affair with drummer Mick Fleetwood, Buckingham and Nicks continued to nurse a tired husk of a relationship.
The discord amongst the band members surfaced in a wonderfully profitable way throughout Rumours. It was soon evident that Buckingham and Nicks were only together for the benefit of the band. Their on-stage chemistry revealed a love that they both eventually found to be far too difficult to sustain, but that existed on some long-forgotten level.
Nicks and Buckingham remained friends and maintained their musical understanding despite their numerous arguments and infidelity. Speaking on Oprah’s Master Class, Nicks reminisced about Buckingham as her “great musical love” and insisted that her feelings for him had remained constant ever since she first saw him.
In her final year at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California, Nicks got to know Buckingham for the first time. She was a frequent visitor to live music venues and was amazed one evening when she arrived at the Young Life Club. Here, Nicks discovered Buckingham playing a cover of “California Dreamin” by Barry McGuire. Inspired by his audacity, Nicks chose to join him in harmony.
Both Nicks and Buckingham left home to attend San José State University. However, they left after a short time to follow their dreams of becoming musicians. Fritz is a psychedelic rock band that started out small. Following Fritz’s early 1972 breakup, they chose to carry on as a duo, eventually putting out the poorly received Buckingham Nicks album in 1973.
Nicks and Buckingham were incredibly in love in the beginning of their relationship, but they also had difficulties. Before joining Fleetwood Mac in 1974, Nicks and Buckingham were having problems, as she disclosed to Oprah’s Master Class. Regarding this time, Nicks said, “Lindsey truly was my great musical love, but Lindsey was very controlling and prone to jealousy. When our relationship started to go south, then I looked elsewhere because I was so unhappy.” “So, our music has brought us together thus far, and we’re working to maintain this musical relationship.”
Mick Fleetwood was considering Buckingham as a possible replacement guitarist for Fleetwood Mac at the end of 1974. Following the offer of the job, Buckingham dutifully declined. He stated that he couldn’t come unless his partner, Nicks, could accompany him as a songwriter and singer. On New Year’s Eve, Fleetwood accepted the offer and the American couple became official members of Fleetwood Mac.
The well-received self-titled album released by Fleetwood Mac in 1975 marked the debut of their new Anglo-American lineup. This ultimately brought Nicks and Buckingham international recognition. “We were happier when we joined Fleetwood Mac. We were very excited to tell you about everything that was going on. So, the relationship improved for a little while. Of course, we were also doing better because we were making money, getting nice places, and everything went up,” she said.
They grew more and more apart as fame shaped both of them like a two-edged sword. Nevertheless, despite all the odds, Fleetwood Mac persisted, appreciating one another’s abilities and realising the significance of the band. “It was definitely a romantic time,” Nicks concluded. “The whole thing was romantic, even though it doesn’t necessarily mean that my relationship with Lindsey was that intensely romantic.”
