Summary
- Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's relationship and breakup inspired some of Fleetwood Mac's most dynamic songs, including "Silver Springs."
- "Silver Springs" was written by Nicks about Buckingham and symbolizes the life they could have had together outside of the band.
- The song was cut from the Rumours album, causing tension within the band.
Fleetwood Mac are one of the most iconic bands of all time. As well as their music masterpieces, which include the seminal 1977 record Rumours, they were known for the sometimes soapy interpersonal relationships between their band members.
Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham met in high school during a session for young musicians at church. Three years later, the pair reconnected when he was looking for a female singer for his band, Fritz.
Eventually, the musicians became involved musically and romantically. They were in a duo called Buckingham Nicks until 1974 when they joined British folk-rock band Fleetwood Mac. During the production of Rumours, the couple broke up, resulting in some of the most dynamic break-up and love songs of all time.
According to the band's drummer Mick Fleetwood, “When they first joined the band, Lindsey had control. And, very slowly, he began to lose that control. And he really didn’t like it.” Fleetwood Mac even inspired the fictional band drama that plays out in Amazon Prime Video’s Daisy Jones & the Six and the book it was based on.
A song Stevie Nicks wrote about that time is "Silver Springs," although many fans hold this track dear to their heart, it never made the final cut of Rumours.
Was Lindsey Buckingham The Reason Stevie Nicks Left Fleetwood Mac?
In 1990, Stevie Nicks approached Mick Fleetwood and asked if she could include "Silver Springs" on her upcoming solo album. The drummer refused, leading Nicks to quit the band alongside Christine McVie.
At the time it was rumoured that Stevie and Christine’s exit from the band had been due to drummer Mick Fleetwood’s memoir. But the co-founding member denied that explaining: “That is nothing but tommyrot.”
Mick explained, “At the time that Stevie decided to quit, she hadn't read it. I think she and Christine just decided that it was time for them to leave."
"Stevie has a very successful career of her own, and she wanted to devote more time to it. Christine recently bought a farmhouse in England, and she wants to settle down and pursue her music and painting. As far as what I wrote about me and Stevie, I don't think she had a problem. We were very much in love. I think she wished that I had written more.”
The lineup which recorded Rumours, reunited in 1997.
Stevie Nicks Wrote Silver Springs About Lindsey Buckingham
"Silver Springs" was written by Stevie Nicks about her breakup with guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. Nicks wrote the track for the Rumours album, but it was cut from the album. The sing ended up on the B side of the single "Go Your Own Way."
The stunning ballad, "Silver Springs," is about an idyllic-sounding town that the couple once passed through on the road. She sets it up as a symbol of the sweet life she could have had with Buckingham if it wasn’t for their life in a touring rock band.
“Silver Springs sounded like a pretty fabulous place to me,” Nicks explained. “And ‘You could be my silver springs’, that’s just a whole symbolic thing of what you could have been to me.”
In an MTV interview years later, Nicks explained she wanted the song to let Buckingham know, “I’m so angry with you. You will listen to me on the radio for the rest of your life, and it will bug you. I hope it bugs you.”
Why Silver Springs Wasn't Allowed On The Fleetwood Mac Album
Although "Silver Springs" is beloved by fans and is still sung live by Stevie Nicks, it doesn't actually appear on Rumours. The band said that "Silver Springs" was cut for longevity as the album was almost finished. Mick Fleetwood has admitted he preferred "I Don't Want To Know" over the song, something which made Nicks furious.
In a 1991 BBC interview, Nicks recalls, “With a gun to my head, I went out and sang ‘I Don’t Want to Know’ and they put ‘Silver Springs’ on the back of ‘Go Your Own Way.’”
The album’s co-producer Richard Dashut once proclaimed that “[It’s] the best song that never made it to a recorded album.”
What Happened Between Stevie Nicks And Lindsey Buckingham?
The relationship between Fleetwood Mac members blew up whilst making Rumours. After eight years of marriage, John and Christine McVie divorced. Mick Fleetwood faced a divorce, after learning that his wife Jenny was having an affair with his best friend and Stevie Nicks broke up with Lindsey Buckingham.
Stevie Nicks opened up about her break up with Lindsey's in a 2013 interview with Oprah's Master Class, stating, "We were just finishing up the end of our 12 songs in Sausalito for 'Rumours,' and I said, 'We're done. I think that this is over, and we both know now that no matter what it takes, we're going to keep Fleetwood Mac together.'"
"We never, ever, with everything that happened to us, ever, let love affairs break Fleetwood Mac up," the singer added. "But Lindsey always blamed Fleetwood Mac for the loss of me. Had we not joined Fleetwood Mac, we would've continued on with our music, but we probably would've gotten married, and we probably would've had a child. It would have been a different life."
Although Nicks and Buckingham toured throughout the '70s and '80s, the tension between the pair still continues. In early 2018, it was reported that Lindsey asked Fleetwood Mac to delay their tour, so he could promote his solo work. Stevie refused to change their tour dates, causing more issues within the band.
Soon after he was seen sniggering and rolling his eyes during a MusiCares speech from Stevie Nicks, leading to him being fired. He blamed Nicks, stating she gave Fleetwood Mac an ultimatum that either he goes or she did. Nicks denies this story, telling Rolling Stone, "Following an exceedingly difficult time with Lindsey at MusiCares in New York, in 2018, I decided for myself that I was no longer willing to work with him."
