For the second time this year, Lindsey Buckingham has hinted that he and Stevie Nicks could have something new in the works, saying their renewed relationship has made next year “pretty interesting.”
The guitarist was speaking with E! about the forthcoming Fleetwood Mac documentary when he reflected on the healing that has taken place between himself and his former girlfriend and bandmate.
“I think the process of making that has been a very circular healing process for all of us,” Buckingham said.
Asked about the possibility of touring with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham was more circumspect, suggesting that repairing his relationship with Nicks was more important than reuniting the band.
“When we left things in 2019, maybe as far as I was concerned, not in a very good place for all the wrong reasons,” he said. “No one was happy about it, and all of that has been healed and worked out.”
“Stevie and I are talking all the time now,” he added. “Next year should be a pretty interesting year, because I think quite a few things will reveal themselves.”
Whatever those “things” turn out to be, Buckingham's comments suggest that the long-fractured relationship between two of Fleetwood Mac's most important members has entered a new phase.
Buckingham and Nicks, who were romantically involved at the time, joined Fleetwood Mac on New Year's Eve 1974 after performing together as Buckingham Nicks. They became central figures in the band's hugely successful mid-'70s lineup, thanks to their songwriting and vocal talents, as well as Buckingham’s virtuoso fingerstyle approach on both acoustic and electric guitar. He remained with the group until 1987, while Nicks stayed until 1990. Both returned in 1997, but Buckingham was fired from the band in 2018.
The circumstances surrounding his exit were contentious. Buckingham subsequently told People that it was “all Stevie's doing,” claiming that Nicks had “basically gave the band an ultimatum that either I had to go or she would go.”
Nicks disputed that account, saying she had not demanded that Buckingham be fired and had instead removed herself from what she considered a toxic situation.
“I did not demand he be fired,” she said. “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.”
The first significant signs of a thaw came last year, when Buckingham Nicks, the duo's 1973 album, was reissued. Nicks shared a letter she wrote in 1973 in which she predicted Buckingham was destined for greatness. She also revealed that she and Buckingham had begun communicating again, despite the animosity that had followed his departure from Fleetwood Mac.
“Lindsey and I started talking about [the album] last night,” she said. “This whole thing seems really like yesterday to us.”
Buckingham then hinted at the possibility of a new collaboration with Nicks in a video shared on Instagram earlier this year. Looking ahead to 2026, he spoke about the renewed connection sparked by the Buckingham Nicks reissue.
“I think on a more general level, just the energy of what Buckingham Nicks did to sort of create a resurgence of connection between Stevie and myself, I think on a larger scale that seems to be something that's in the air,” he said.
“And what that translates to specifically, I wouldn't want to speculate yet, but I believe with all my heart it will translate to something good and something wonderful and something needed and something extremely appropriate.”
A Fleetwood Mac reunion, however, appears to be a different matter. Nicks has repeatedly ruled one out following the death of keyboardist and singer Christine McVie in 2022.
“Without Christine, no can do,” Nicks told Mojo. “There is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way. Without her, it just couldn't work.”
Buckingham has been more open to the possibility of returning to the band. In a 2024 interview with Conan O'Brien, he said he would reunite with Fleetwood Mac “in a heartbeat.”
“In a heartbeat, absolutely,” he said. “If there's more to come, if there's a way to heal that, that would be great. It would be very appropriate to close on a more circular note.”
For now, though, Buckingham's latest comments point toward something potentially more intriguing: not necessarily a Fleetwood Mac reunion, but a new chapter for Buckingham and Nicks themselves.
