McVie ‘completes’ Fleetwood Mac picture

Fleetwood Mac mainman Lindsey Buckingham says having keyboardist Christine McVie back in the fold makes them a more ‘complete’ band.

And he reveals that although they worked well together as a four-piece when McVie left 17 years ago, they’re in a better place with her back in the lineup.

He tells Austin 360: “When she left, we took a little bit of time off and then went in the studio to make an album back in 2003. And we’ve done a number of successful tours, business wise and I’d say artistically as a four-piece.

“The only difference, really, is that Stevie Nicks is sort of at one end of the spectrum. She’s representing one pole, I’m representing the other end of that, and Christine is somewhere in the middle.

“So I think that the body of work speaks more eloquently. With her inclusion in it and her songs in there, suddenly you’ve got a more complete landscape. And I think her songs help inform my songs and Stevie’s.”

And he also says her return has made for a lighter atmosphere and that Nicks especially missed having her around.

Buckingham continues: “You’ve got to talk about just the fact that I think on some level, Stevie missed having her gal pal – and that’s been great.

“It kind of lightens things up again, because if there’s a polarity musically between Stevie and me, there’s also a bit of a polarity politically or socially, given our history. So it fills in that as well.

“We did great as a four-piece, but I think it’s a more complete picture when Christine is there.”

Fleetwood Mac are working on a new album which is due for release later this year and they head out on the road across the UK and Ireland starting in May:

May 27: London O2 Arena

May 28: London O2 Arena

Jun 08: Birmingham Genting Arena

Jun 09: Birmingham Genting Arena

Jun 12: Manchester Arena

Jun 14: Isle Of Wight festival

Jun 16: Glasgow SSE Hydro

Jun 17: Glasgow SSE Hydro

Jun 20: Dublin 3Arena

Jun 22: London O2 Arena

Jun 24: London O2 Arena

Jun 26: London O2 Arena

Jun 27: London O2 Arena

Jun 30: Leeds First Direct Arena

Jul 01: Manchester Arena

Jul 04: Birmingham Genting Arena

Jul 05: Leeds First Direct Arena

Jul 08: Glasgow SSE Hydro

Jul 10: Dublin 3Arena

Jul 11: Dublin 3Arena

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.