Fleetwood Mac Discuss Their New Lineup

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The new lineup of Fleetwood Mac on CBS This Morning, April 25, 2018

On April 9, Fleetwood Mac announced the surprising news that they had parted ways with their longtime (and on-again-and-off-again) bandmate, Lindsey Buckingham, replacing him with the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn. When the group revealed the details of their 2018-2019 North American tour on April 27, they finally discussed the reasons for the split.

“An Evening With Fleetwood Mac,” begins October 3, 2018, with North American dates scheduled into 2019.

On CBS This Morning the band talked to the program’s Anthony Mason about the new lineup. “This team wanted to get out on the road and one of the members didn’t want to go out on the road for a year,” said Stevie Nicks. “When you’re in a band, it’s a team. I have a solo career… and I love my solo career… and I’m the boss. But I’m not the boss of this band.”

“It happened after the MusiCares event in New York,” said Fleetwood, referencing the January 2018 event where the group was honored and last performed. “It became just a huge impasse and hit a brick wall where we decided we had to part company.”

“Majority rules in term of what we need to do as a band and go forward,” Fleetwood told Rolling Stone.

CBS’ Mason asked Fleetwood if Buckingham was effectively fired. “We don’t use that word because I think it’s ugly,” was the reply. “Lindsey… has huge amounts of respect and kudos to what he’s done within the ranks of Fleetwood Mac… and always will. But it’s like a marriage that came to and end and there are reasons why. And as a band we needed to move on and we have. Both of these gentlemen [Campbell and Finn] have a legacy of their own. They don’t need to have a calling card. This is absolutely a new band.”

Campbell said: “I was wondering what I was gonna do. I had a few things but nothing quite as big as this. I’m making this my priority until whenever. We’ll see what happens.”

They had their new lead guitarist but needed a male vocalist.

Nicks: “We sat around a table and just started listening to everybody we could think of. Everywhere between 27 and 65. It was crazy.”

Finn got the call: “I had this big grin on my face because it’s a call you never expect to get.”

The new lineup had two days of rehearsals in Hawaii, where Fleetwood has a home. Christine McVie noted: “The essence of the band was great and fun and the three voices sounded great together. I’m really happy.”

Ironically, McVie had spent the most amount of time with Buckingham in the past year. They recorded a 2017 duo album, Buckingham McVie, and supported it with dozens of dates last year.

Related: Review of Buckingham McVie

Campbell added: “It already feels like a band even though we’ve only played once or twice. But with a little rehearsal, I think it’s going to be incredible.”

Nicks and Campbell share a long history based on her long association with the Heartbreakers. She discussed the impact of Tom Petty’s death last October. “It changed me and Mike for sure in that we need to take every day that we have until we’re gone and make it the best day we can,” she said. “Because if that can happen to Tom then it can happen to anybody. And I’m gonna have the most fun I can and I’m gonna stop complaining and I’m gonna throw myself into all these projects. Because you just never know.”

Fleetwood Mac 2018-2019 Tour Dates (More to come) (Tickets here and here)

Oct 03 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Oct 06 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Oct 10 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
Oct 12 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
Oct 14 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
Oct 16 – Indianapolis, IN – Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Oct 18 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
Oct 20 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
Oct 22 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Oct 26 – Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena
Oct 28 – Milwaukee, WI – Wisc. Ent. and Sports Center
Oct 30 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Nov 01 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Nov 03 – Kanata, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
Nov 05 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
Nov 07 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
Nov 10 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Nov 12 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Nov 14 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Nov 17 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
Nov 19 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Nov 21 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose
Nov 23 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
Nov 25 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
Nov 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena
Nov 30 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
Dec 03 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
Dec 06 – Fresno, CA – Save Mart Center
Dec 08 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
Dec 11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
Dec 13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum

2019
Feb 05 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Feb 07 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Feb 09 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
Feb 13 – Birmingham, AL – Legacy Arena
Feb 16 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Feb 18 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Feb 20 – Sunrise, FL – BB&T Center
Feb 22 – Columbia, SC – Colonial Life Arena
Feb 24 – Charlotte, NC – Colonial Life Arena
Feb 27 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Mar 03 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
Mar 05 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Mar 09 – Atlantic City, NJ – Boardwalk Hall
Mar 11 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Mar 13 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
Mar 15 – Hartford, CT – XL Center
Mar 20 – Albany, NY – Times Union Center
Mar 24 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena
Mar 26 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center
Mar 31 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Apr 05 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center