Stevie Nicks speaks on Lindsey Buckingham's Fleetwood Mac departure for the first time

In a new interview for Rolling Stone, Buckingham spoke about being "fired" from the band in 2018 following a MusiCares Grammy event.

Buckingham claimed in the piece that he was dismissed from the group after asking them to push back a tour for three months so he could release and tour his solo album. Buckingham also said that he suggested to the band that he could play solo shows in the same city on the nights that Fleetwood Mac weren't performing (as they had apparently booked three shows a week), but was fired by the band’s manager while those conversations were happening.

Speaking about Nicks, Buckingham said, "I think she wanted to shape the band in her own image, a more mellow thing, and if you look at the last tour, I think that’s true."

Nicks responded to Buckkingham's claims in the Rolling Stone piece - her first public statement on his departure from Fleetwood Mac - which reads: "It’s unfortunate that Lindsey has chosen to tell a revisionist history of what transpired in 2018 with Fleetwood Mac. His version of events is factually inaccurate, and while I’ve never spoken publicly on the matter, preferring to not air dirty laundry, certainly it feels the time has come to shine a light on the truth. Following an exceedingly difficult time with Lindsey at MusiCares in New York, in 2018, I decided for myself that I was no longer willing to work with him. I could publicly reflect on the many reasons why, and perhaps I will do that someday in a memoir, but suffice it to say we could start in 1968 and work up to 2018 with a litany of very precise reasons why I will not work with him. To be exceedingly clear, I did not have him fired, I did not ask for him to be fired, I did not demand he be fired. Frankly, I fired myself. I proactively removed myself from the band and a situation I considered to be toxic to my well-being. I was done. If the band went on without me, so be it. I have championed independence my whole life, and I believe every human being should have the absolute freedom to set their boundaries of what they can and cannot work with. And after many lengthy group discussions, Fleetwood Mac, a band whose legacy is rooted in evolution and change, found a new path forward with two hugely talented new members."

"Further to that, as for a comment on "family" - I was thrilled for Lindsey when he had children, but I wasn’t interested in making those same life choices," Nicks added. "Those are my decisions that I get to make for myself. I’m proud of the life choices I’ve made, and it seems a shame for him to pass judgment on anyone who makes a choice to live their life on their own terms, even if it looks differently from what his life choices have been."