Fleetwood Mac not in it for the money

Mick Fleetwood says Fleetwood Mac couldn't perform together if they weren't friends.

On the day that the band added two more London dates to their 2015 tour, the drummer laughs off suggestions that relationships remain strained within the group and says they could never pretend to get along for the sake of a pay cheque.

Fleetwood Mac recently welcomed Christine McVie back to the fold after 16 years.

Fleetwood tells the Guardian: “That whole ‘extreme fear and loathing’ thing is a load of bollocks. It’s boring when I have to explain why we still want to be doing this. Some bands admit they don’t like each other, but they can sign a piece of paper and walk on stage. Nothing wrong with that, but we can’t do it. We have to have some emotional credibility to what we’re doing.

“Elton John and Eric Clapton work more than us, and they certainly don’t need the money. Have you ever thought that we actually like doing what we do?”

He also recalls taking a pee on the lawn of The White House ahead of a show for then US president Bill Clinton.

He continues: “I was dying to pee and I didn’t have time to go back to the house before we appeared. I was saying to my manager, ‘What the fuck am I going to do?’ I was dressed like Mr Rumours, in knickerbockers, with my wooden balls hanging out.

“The security guys must have heard because suddenly this fella with an earpiece said something like ‘permission granted to urinate on the lawn.’”

Fleetwood Mac are currently working on a new album, and next year they’ll play nine UK and Ireland arena dates as part of their On With The Show tour. They today announced they had added London shows on June 22 and 24 to the original seven dates.

ON WITH THE SHOW EUROPEAN UK/IRELAND DATES 2015

May 27: The O2 London

May 28: The O2 London

Jun 08: Genting Arena Birmingham

Jun 12: Manchester Arena

Jun 16: SSE Hydro Glasgow

Jun 20: 3Arena Dublin

Jun 22: The O2 London

Jun 24: The O2 London

Jun 30: First Direct Arena Leeds

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.