(Credits: Far Out / Polydor)
It’s hard to say what sort of legacy Rumours would have today without the tumultuous relationship between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. While the music would have no doubt still been great enough to wield longevity, the friction between the two musicians bolstered a significant portion of this musical excellence, blessing it with the kind of fire and fervour of two souls at war.
Nicks and Buckingham had effectively grown up together, transitioning from an aspiring songwriting duo to two crucial aspects of one of the greatest folk rock groups of all time. Within Fleetwood Mac, everybody had their share of challenges, including John and Christine McVie. However, the budding anguish that burgeoned between Nicks and Buckingham gave rise to some of their most career-defining hits, like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Go Your Own Way’.
Interestingly, despite the anger that was almost always directed at one another, the pair seemed to uphold a consistent thread of professional respect, even when they seemed the most at each others’ throats. In fact, despite the disdain-filed broken heart that influenced the making of ‘Dreams’, Buckingham was the first person she handed the demo to, knowing that he would appreciate her creation and enhance it exactly where it needed to shine as much as it possibly could.
However, the two wouldn’t come close to patching things up over the years, despite the moments when it seemed the dust had settled more organically than before. Disagreements and explosive arguments seemed around the corner at any moment, leading to a decades-long inability to see eye-to-eye, likely owed to the copious amounts of history the pair had accrued since the early days when they didn’t even know if a sustainable music career was on the cards.
A turning point wouldn’t arrive until Nicks reunited with Buckingham to work on In Your Dreams in 2011, specifically on the song ‘Soldier’s Angel’. While this marked Nicks’ first solo record since 2001’s Trouble in Shangri-La, most of the songs felt like no time had passed, which especially rang true for Nicks when she worked with Buckingham again. In this case, both exhibited the same professionalism and respect they always maintained despite the hardships that emerged along the way.
According to Nicks, ‘Soldier’s Angel’ enabled them to become closer than they had in years, which likely seemed impossible at one point, especially considering the differences in their artistic visions that flourished over the years. However, in this instance, Nicks recalled feeling as though they were more aligned than ever, reminiscent of Buckingham Nicks days, which she didn’t know could happen.
“We recorded it live and did some harmonies, and then he did some little lead guitar things, and it was perfect,” she reflected to Billboard. “There’s no other players, just me and him. Not only did we create something that’s probably as Buckingham Nicks as we have been since 1973, but I think that song really brought Lindsey and I back together.” She added: “He said to me as he was leaving on that second day, ‘I feel like we’re closer than we’ve been in 30 years.’ It certainly opens a lot of doors.”
While it seems a reunion might be firmly off the table as of recent times, especially after she told Rolling Stone that she “dealt with Lindsey for as long as I could” after giving him “more than 300 million chances,” it doesn’t seem that far-fetched to imagine a scenario when they appear side by side in the studio once again, benching their historic qualms in the name of good art. Their day in the sun could truly be over, but if their previous entanglements are anything to go by, never say never.
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