Stevie Nicks wished her former bandmate and ex-lover Lindsey Buckingham a happy birthday, despite reportedly playing a pivotal role in getting him fired from Fleetwood Mac.
The singer-songwriter took to her Instagram Story to pen a sweet message to Buckingham on his 76th birthday on Friday, October 3.
‘Wishing you the best Birthday ever @lindseybuckingham! Love’s ya! Stevie,’ she wrote over a blank, deep purple background.
Earlier on the same day, she also shared a post about releasing the reissue of the first album they ever made again last month.
Buckingham Nicks was originally released in 1973, the year before the duo joined Fleetwood Mac.
‘Sharing Buckingham Nicks with all of you again has been so fun for both me and Lindsey. Thank you for joining us again on this journey,’ Nicks, 77, wrote alongside their original album cover.
Stevie Nicks wished her former bandmate and ex-lover Lindsey Buckingham a happy birthday after getting him fired from Fleetwood Mac
The singer-songwriter took to her Instagram Story to pen a sweet message to Buckingham on his 76th birthday on Friday, October 3
On September 19 last month, Nicks shared a handwritten letter she sent to her family when she was recording Buckingham Nicks with her former bandmate.
In the never-before-seen letter, she wrote that she was ‘getting very tired of listening to over 12 hours of music per day.’
She also wrote that she felt sure it would ‘pay off in the end.’
The letter was written on stationery from Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, and in it, Nicks praised her then partner’s talent.
‘By the way — Dad and Chris — that rock and roll tune that you both liked (“Baby Baby, don’t treat me so bad”) with the fancy guitar work is almost finished.’
She added that Buckingham ‘may go down in history as one of the “greats” in guitar playing. It really is quite amazing.’
Nicks and Buckingham were together when they first started with Fleetwood Mac and then broke up after recording the band’s seminal 1977 album Rumours.
They had a rocky relationship when they first started dating in 1972, throughout their four-year relationship and even after they broke up.
‘Wishing you the best Birthday ever @lindseybuckingham! Love’s ya! Stevie,’ she wrote over a blank, deep purple background
Earlier on the same day, she also shared a post about releasing the reissue of the first album they ever made again last month. Buckingham Nicks was originally released in 1973, the year before the duo joined Fleetwood Mac
On September 19 last month, Nicks shared a handwritten letter she sent to her family when she was recording Buckingham Nicks with her former bandmate
Following their split, they continued to make music and perform together alongside their bandmates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and the late Christine McVie.
‘Our relationship has always been volatile,’ Buckingham said of Nicks to Rolling Stone recently. ‘We were never married, but we might as well have been.’
In 2018, Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham was replaced by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House’s Neil Finn.
The initial report claimed the band had a ‘disagreement over the band’s upcoming tour.’ However, it was later revealed that it was the tumultuous relationship between Nicks and Buckingham that broke down the band.
Last year, Nicks opened up about the moment she knew she could no longer be in the same band with Buckingham after many decades of working together.
At the time, she recalled the last time she saw him in person — at Christine McVie’s funeral in 2023.
‘Christine threw down a hurricane on top of Nobu, which is where we had it,’ Nicks told Rolling Stone in October 2024.
‘Almost blew the whole place away, honest to God. Tore down the entire deck that was all decorated and everything, so it was kind of crazy. We all felt like she was there, because it was really intense.’
In 2018, Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac. It was later revealed that it was the tumultuous relationship between Nicks and Buckingham that broke down the band; pictured in January 2018
Last year, Nicks opened up about the moment she knew she could no longer be in the same band with Buckingham after many decades of working together. At the time, she recalled the last time she saw him in person — at Christine McVie’s funeral in 2023
As to their tumultuous relationship finally reaching its breaking point, she said: ‘I think that all just happened the way it should have. It happened one night; pictured in March 2019
She said she was sure of her decision and still wishes him well despite their messy band breakup; pictured in October 2013
Nicks and Buckingham were together when they first started with Fleetwood Mac and then broke up after recording the band’s seminal 1977 album Rumours. They had a rocky relationship when they first started dating in 1972, throughout their four-year relationship and even after they broke up; pictured in 1980
‘The only time I’ve spoken to Lindsey was there, for about three minutes. I dealt with Lindsey for as long as I could. You could not say that I did not give him more than 300 million chances.’
As to their tumultuous relationship finally reaching its breaking point, she said: ‘I think that all just happened the way it should have. It happened one night, not planned, at a MusiCares [benefit concert.]’
She admitted: ‘I didn’t even tell anybody it had happened in my head until the whole ceremony was over. I took with me that night a song that I had done with LeAnn Rimes called Borrowed. I took it with me to play for him because I thought we could do this song beautifully.’
However, the breaking point was later, when Buckingham offended her with his behavior at the charity event. ‘That’s when he wasn’t very nice to anybody; he wasn’t very nice to Harry Styles.’
‘I could hear my mom saying, “Are you really going to spend the next 15 years of your life with this man?” I could hear my very pragmatic father — and by the way, my mom and dad liked Lindsey a lot — saying, “It’s time for you guys to get a divorce.” Between those two, I said, “I’m done.”‘
She said she was sure of her decision and still wishes him well despite their messy band breakup.
In the same interview, she said that Fleetwood Mac would not reunite in the future as ‘there is no more Fleetwood Mac now’ with Christine’s passing.
‘This was my music soulmate, my best girlfriend. We kept that band afloat, the two of us, by keeping the peace, no matter what. We were the keepers of Fleetwood Mac, and that is why we cannot replace her,’ she said.
‘We did replace Lindsey two times, and it was OK. No fighting, super fun. But Christine was different.’
