Fleetwood Mac announce tour and speak out about Lindsey Buckingham's departure

The longtime guitarist's separation from the band came down to a 'scheduling conflict'

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac. Credit: Getty Images (Getty Images)

Fleetwood Mac have opened up for the first time about Lindsey Buckingham's recent split from the group calling it a "scheduling conflict" and have announced a new tour.

News of the longtime guitarist and vocalist leaving the seminal rock band surfaced earlier this month after Fleetwood Mac released a statement saying Buckingham wouldn't be a part of their forthcoming tour and that they wished him "all the best."

The remaining band members - Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood - publicly attribute the longtime guitarist and vocalist's split from Fleetwood Mac to a "scheduling conflict surrounding a world tour," reports Rolling Stone.

"We were supposed to go into rehearsal in June and he wanted to put it off until November [2019]," says Nicks. "That’s a long time. I just did 70 shows [on a solo tour]. As soon as I finish one thing, I dive back into another. Why would we stop? We don’t want to stop playing music. We don’t have anything else to do. This is what we do."

Fleetwood Mac won't use the word "fired" to describe Buckingham's departure, but instead says the band "arrived at the impasse of hitting a brick wall."

"Words like ‘fired’ are ugly references as far as I’m concerned," says Fleetwood.

He said it wasn't "a happy situation" when it came down to logistics for the band.

Fleetwood continued, "To that purpose, we made a decision that we could not go on with him. Majority rules in term of what we need to do as a band and go forward."

For Nicks, Buckingham's split from the band is "bittersweet" - she has been romantically linked to Buckingham since 1968.

"Our relationship has always been volatile," she says. “We were never married, but we might as well have been. Some couples get divorced after 40 years. They break their kids' hearts and destroy everyone around them because it’s just hard. This is sad for me, but I want the next 10 years of my life to be really fun and happy. I want to get up every day and dance around my apartment and smile and say, ‘Thank God for this amazing life.’"

This isn't the first time Buckingham has left the group: he separated from Fleetwood Mac in 1987 and rejoined in 1996.

To replace Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac has enlisted former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn for their 52-date tour starting October 3 in Tulsa and finishing up in Philadelphia in April 2019.

Fleetwood Mac's latest tour will feature songs from the entire Fleetwood Mac catalogue - something Nicks says the band wasn't able to do "since 1975 because certain people in the band weren't interested in doing that."

Tickets for Fleetwood Mac's upcoming tour go on sale Friday May 4.

See a full list of tour dates below

3 October - Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center

6 October - Chicago, IL @ United Center

10 October - Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center

12 October - Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena

14 October - Des Moines, IA @ Wells Fargo Arena

16 October - Indianapolis, IN @ Bankers Life Fieldhouse

18 October - Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center

20 October - St. Louis, MO @ Scottrade Center

22 October - St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center

26 October - Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena

28 October - Milwaukee, WI @ Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center

30 October - Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena

1 November - Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena

3 November - Ottawa, ON @ Canadian Tire Centre

5 November - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre

7 November - Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena

10 November - Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place

12 November - Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome

14 November - Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena

17 November - Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome

19 November - Portland, OR @ Moda Center

21 November - San Jose, CA @ SAP Center at San Jose

23 November - Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center

25 November - Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena

28 November - Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Arena

30 November - Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena

3 December - Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center

6 December - Fresno, CA @ Save Mart Center

8 December - San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena

11 December - Inglewood, CA @ The Forum

13 December - Inglewood, CA @ The Forum

5 February 2019 - Houston, TX @ Toyota Center

7 February - Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center

9 February - Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center

13 February - Birmingham, AL @ Legacy Arena at The BJCC

16 February - New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center

18 February - Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena

20 February - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BB&T Center

22 February - Columbia, SC @ Colonial Life Arena

24 February - Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center

27 February - Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena

3 March - Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena

5 March - Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena

9 March - Atlantic City, NJ @ Boardwalk Hall

11 March - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden

13 March - Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center

15 March - Hartford, CT @ XL CENTER

20 March - Albany, NY @ Times Union Center

24 March - Baltimore, MD @ Royal Farms Arena

26 March - Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center

31 March - Boston, MA @ TD Garden

5 April - Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center