When Fleetwood Mac fired guitarist Lindsey Buckingham in 2018 they had to hire two players - Mike Campbell and Neil Finn - to replace him. Any chance they'd cut out a bit of admin and get Buckingham back at some point? No way, says Mick Fleetwood.
"We're very, very committed to Neil and Mike, and passed away a time ago, when Lindsey left", the drummer tells Rolling Stone. "It's not a point of conversation, so I have to say no. It's a full drama of Fleetwood Mac, no doubt".
" legacy is alive and well, and as it should be", adds Fleetwood. "A major, major part that will never be taken away, and never be down-spoken by any of us. Neil and Mike have tremendous respect for Lindsey. The situation was no secret. We were not happy. It was not working, and we parted company. And that really is the all of it".
The split was certainly not very good natured. Buckingham originally joined that band in 1975 alongside his then girlfriend Stevie Nicks. After he was fired, he claimed that his sacking had been caused by Nicks mistakenly thinking that he had smirked at her while making an awards acceptance speech. He said that he received a call from the band's manager Irving Azoff, who told him: "Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again". Initially he assumed that this meant she was leaving the band, not realising that he was being fired.
Having subsequently grasped that he was out, he then sued his former bandmates over the money he would miss out on as a result of not being part of their then upcoming tour. That case was settled out of court before the tour began.
So, there's no love lost at the moment. But, as Fleetwood says, drama has always been part of the band's story, so maybe let's not rule out Buckingham's dramatic return just yet.