The truth about Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham

Regarding this article, Stevie Nicks is too kind of a person to stick up for herself so let me rip on Lindsey.  As someone who never claimed to be kind or nice, let me bring some reality into the discourse.  If you missed it, Lindsey Buckingham has launched another attack on Stevie. Both were members of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Unlike Lindsey, Stevie's also had a successful solo career -- a very successful solo career, in fact. She could leave Fleetwood Mac and be just fine in terms of finances. Lindsey's really not that lucky. He doesn't have any hits that are staples of radio and generate money for him. So, he needs Fleetwood Mac money and since he didn't really write hits for the group -- the way Stevie and Christine McVie did -- he really needs that performance money. He's a spoiled little prince who always lived beyond his means.

And that's a thing to note. Carly Simon was slammed by many in the early 70s for being the daughter of Richard Simon and an 'heiress,' even though most of that money was long gone due to therapy. But Lindsey's family got rich via coffee. We never pondered whether rich men could rock but we sure as hell targeted poor Carly with that nonsense. In the 80s when someone would make the mistake of praising Lindsey to me, they'd quickly hear me gripe about the prince who was too delicate to work. The entire time Stevie and Lindsey were a couple, he was too precious to work a real job. Stevie cleaned houses, Stevie waited tables.

Whether it's Chelsea Manning, Ellen DeGeneres, Lindsey Buckingham or whomever, I loathe ingratitude. He wouldn't have a career if it weren't for Stevie. She's the one who worked so he didn't have to. His parents weren't going to let him sit on his butt. Because she loved his lazy ass, Lindsey had a roof over his head and food to eat -- because of Stevie. A little gratitude is not too much to ask for.

He's saying that Stevie's bitter because he has a child and she doesn't. If I were a lazy man who was with a woman for years while she carried me and paid my bills, I don't think I'd be stupid enough to bring up children years later. Had Stevie not wasted her time on someone as lazy as Lindsey for so long, she might have had children but, in fact, she spent the first half of the 70s raising a child named Lindsey Buckingham.

Stevie's life is full and she has friends and she has family. Lindsey tries to pretend otherwise -- and the reality is that he's the one who's lost friends in the last five years due to difficulties that he apparently doesn't wish to discuss.

As a person, Stevie has a rich and full life. As an artist, she has a legend that is like no other. While Lindsey spent his entire career writing bad copies of the Mamas and the Papas and the Beach Boys, Stevie blazed her own trail. There was no one that wrote like her or sang like her. A true original.

Instead of slamming Stevie, Lindsey would be better off apologizing to her for the way he treated her and the way he treated her work -- dismissing her songwriting contributions when she proposed them for TUSK or MIRAGE or TANGO IN THE NIGHT. For claiming that "Silver Springs" wasn't a strong enough song to include on RUMOURS. There's so much he needs to apologize for. Including refusing "Book of Miracles" for TANGO and yet putting his name on it as a co-writer (he wasn't) and making it a b-side so he could make money. "Book Of Miracles" shows up on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR as "Juliet" -- one of my all time favorite Stevie songs and I'm so glad she kept faith in that song because it's pretty amazing.

It was way too hard
It was way too tough
On this she had not bargained
But she was like some missionary
Dancing to the beat of some man's ancient drum

And she tries hard to tell this story
But it's a hard one to tell
She consults her book of miracles

Cry and the wind says fly on
Well, now you're on your own
You're back out on the road again for a million reasons
Well, you're back out on the road again

And you try to tie together some connections
You get some ribbons and some bows
And get back out on the road again

Stevie's had a charmed life but it's been a hard one at times and she always picked herself up and got back on the road without throwing stones at others.  Lindsey isn't able to do the same.  He's bitter.  And has been for many years.  None of his exes have a nice word to say about him.

As for Lindsey claiming that Stevie wanted to turn Fleetwood Mac into "a more mellow thing" at odds with his own vision? Excuse the f**k out of me, Lindsey's weak ass nonsense destroyed one of the great rock bands. By TUSK, he thinks he's a genius and he's not. He demands that all of his garbage make the album -- he has more songs than Christine or Stevie .Though not rock, at least what he was arranging then was listenable. Then came MIRAGE and his vicious ear candy that was no where near rock -- the same is true of what he did on TANGO. Look at their solo output. Stevie's the one doing "Edge of 17" and "I Can't Wait" and "Stand Back," etc. He's the one doing muzak garbage like "Trouble" and "Go Insane."

As a singer, he's always been a joke. As a writer, his source material always shows (John Phillips and Brian Wilson predominately). He may be a great guitar player, I don't know -- I was a Bob Welch fan.