'The Healing Has Been Miraculous': Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks Reconcile After Years of Fleetwood Mac Tension

They may have gone their own ways, but Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are back in regular contact. The Fleetwood Mac musicians whose personal relationship has been full of ups and downs for over 50 years are "talking all the time now," Buckingham told E! News at Variety's Power of Young Hollywood event.

"Fleetwood Mac has been working on a documentary. I think the process of making that has been a very circular healing process for all of us," he said on Thursday, Aug. 6. "What it has done, which is the most important thing… we had left things in 2019, maybe as far as I was concerned, not in a very good place for all the wrong reasons. No one was happy about it, and all of that has been healed and worked out."

A Reconciliation Years in the Making

The news marks a significant turning point for the iconic band, whose internal drama has been as legendary as its music. Buckingham, 76, was fired from Fleetwood Mac in 2018, and told PEOPLE in 2021 that his ousting was "all Stevie's doing."

"Stevie basically gave the band an ultimatum that either I had to go or she would go," he said. "It would be like [Mick] Jagger saying, 'Well, either Keith [Richards] has to go, or I'm going to go'… But that could be seen as something almost predictable at some point given the fact that we were slightly on different planets for so long."

Nicks, 78, later called his version of the story "revisionist history," saying she'd essentially fired herself, and "proactively removed myself from the band and a situation I considered to be toxic to my well-being… If the band went on without me, so be it."

The Thaw and a Musical Reunion

By 2025, though, the ice between Buckingham and Nicks had thawed, and in September of that year they put out a remastered version of their 1973 studio album Buckingham Nicks. In October, they both appeared on the Song Exploder podcast in separate interviews to talk about the making of their song "Frozen Love," and Nicks revealed that the pair had just spoken the night before, and talked about meeting as high school students in California in 1966.

"Our relationship was up and down and up and down and up and down and difficult, but at the same time, fantastic," Nicks said. "And what we were doing was so fantastic, that it was worth putting up with the trials and tribulations of a relationship that's difficult."

The remastered album was a deeply personal project for both musicians, representing a return to their roots before the global fame of Fleetwood Mac. The album, recorded before they joined the band, showcases their early musical chemistry and has been a touchstone for fans who appreciate the raw talent that would eventually propel them to superstardom.

The Legacy of 'Rumours'

Their eventual breakup wound up being ideal fodder for Fleetwood Mac's legendary 1977 album Rumours, which was recorded while bandmates Christine and John McVie were also splitting up. The album became one of the best-selling records of all time, a testament to the band's ability to channel personal turmoil into transcendent art.

At Variety's event on Aug. 6, Buckingham reflected on the time period to PEOPLE, saying he's still proud of how they persevered through personal troubles to make music that stands the test of time.

"The thing that I'm always the most proud of that we accomplished is that you have to look at the personal difficulties we were having inside the band. The Rumours album was a musical soap opera, and it was all true," he said. "Our personal lives were spread out across the album for all to see. It was very, very difficult to always try to make the right decisions for the bigger picture."

He continued, "I think what I'm most proud of in Fleetwood Mac and what I see as the most positive thing is that we were ultimately able to rise above all those difficulties to fulfill our destiny."

A New Chapter

The documentary, which Buckingham referenced, has been in the works for some time and is expected to offer an in-depth look at the band's tumultuous history. The process of revisiting the past appears to have been cathartic for all involved, allowing old wounds to heal and new understanding to emerge.

Buckingham's comments suggest that the healing has been both personal and professional. The relationship between the two musicians has evolved from romantic partners to bandmates to bitter rivals, and now, finally, to friends who are in regular contact.

For fans of Fleetwood Mac, the reconciliation is a long-awaited development. The band's music has always been rooted in the emotional intensity of their personal relationships, and the hope is that this newfound peace will allow them to create new music together. Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but the fact that they are speaking again is a positive sign.

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks have been through more than most artists could imagine. From their early days as struggling musicians in California to their peak as global superstars, their relationship has been a constant source of drama, inspiration, and heartache. But now, after years of tension and bitterness, they have found a way to heal.

The circus of rock and roll is always evolving. But for Buckingham and Nicks, the show is far from over.