Lindsey Buckingham sues Fleetwood Mac for firing him ahead of North American tour
Lindsey Buckingham is suing Fleetwood Mac after he was fired from the band in January ahead of their sprawling North American tour.
In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday (9th October) at the Los Angeles superior court, Buckingham is suing his former band mates for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of oral contract and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, among other charges.
69-year-old Buckingham was dumped from Fleetwood Mac in January just two days after they performed at a MusiCares event in New York.
Breaking the news of his exit in April, Fleetwood Mac confirmed that Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Crowded House’s Neil Finn were joining them for their tour.
In his legal papers, Buckingham said he asked to postpone Fleetwood Mac’s North American tour for three months so he could play solo dates.
Claiming that plans were already afoot for their North American tour, Buckingham said he was “unceremoniously” let go without prior warning.
He states that each member of Fleetwood Mac will earn an estimated $12million to $14million from the tour, which kicked off at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma last week.
According to papers obtaining by Rolling Stone, the complaint read: “This action is necessary to enforce Buckingham’s right to share in the economic opportunities he is entitled to as a member of the partnership created to operate the business of Fleetwood Mac.”
It continues: “By excluding Buckingham from participating in the 2018-2019 Fleetwood Mac tour in breach of their fiduciary duties of loyalty and good faith and fair dealing, the Defendants intentionally acted to interfere with Buckingham’s relationship with Live Nation and the prospective economic benefit he was to receive as a result of his participation in the tour.”
The papers also state that although “there has never been a written agreement among Christine McVie, John McVie, Buckingham, Fleetwood and Nicks,” California’s Uniform Partnership Act of 1994 says that “absent a written partnership agreement, no partner in Fleetwood Mac may be terminated from the Partnership without cause.”
Attached to the papers is an email Buckingham sent to Mick Fleetwood on 28th February where he tries to heal the rift. He states in the email “All of this breaks my heart.”
In a candid interview with Rolling Stone this week, Buckingham firmly blamed Stevie Nicks for his firing from the band.
He alleged that he received a phone call from the band’s manager Irving Azoff telling him after the MusiCares event that “Stevie never wants to be on a stage with you again.”
Buckingham claimed that Azoff listed a number of things “Stevie took issue with” during the performance, saying he “smirked” throughout her speech and had an “outburst” during their introduction music, which was the studio recording of Stevie Nicks’ ‘Rhiannon.’