“We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family,” the group statement said. “With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs. Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.
“Lindsey Buckingham will not be performing with the band on this tour. The band wishes Lindsey all the best.”
According to the majority of the rock band -- Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood -- Buckingham's departure came from a scheduling conflict over a world tour.
"We were supposed to go into rehearsal in June and he wanted to put it off until November (2019)," Nicks told Rolling Stone in an interview published Wednesday. "That's a long time. I just did 70 shows. As soon as I finish one thing, I dive back into another. Why would we stop?"
Instead, after meeting a month ago, the band decided to replace Buckingham and will go on a 52-date North American tour.
Rolling Stone reported that the group isn't willing to say Buckingham was fired, per se.
“Words like ‘fired’ are ugly references as far as I’m concerned,” Fleetwood said. “Not to hedge around, but we arrived at the impasse of hitting a brick wall. This was not a happy situation for us in terms of the logistics of a functioning band. To that purpose, we made a decision that we could not go on with him. Majority rules in terms of what we need to do as a band and go forward.”
“Our relationship has always been volatile. We were never married, but we might as well have been,” Nicks said. “This is sad for me, but I want the next 10 years of my life to be really fun and happy. I want to get up every day and dance around my apartment and smile and say, ‘Thank God for this amazing life.’”
Credit: Steven Ferdman
Credit: Steven Ferdman
The dates for Fleetwood Mac's North American tour are below. Most general public tickets go on sale starting May 4 at 10 a.m. local time. The tour starts in October in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and runs through 2019. More information is available at FleetwoodMac.com.
Oct. 3: Tulsa, Oklahoma, at BOK Center
Oct. 6: Chicago at United Center
Oct. 10: Louisville, Kentucky, at KFC Yum! Center (on sale May 11)
Oct. 12: Lincoln, Nebraska, at Pinnacle Bank Arena
Oct. 14: Des Moines, Iowa, at Wells Fargo Arena
Oct. 16: Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Oct. 18: Kansas City, Missouri, at Sprint Center
Oct. 20: St. Louis at Scottrade Center
Oct. 22 : St. Paul, Minnesota, at Xcel Energy Center
Oct. 26: Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena
Oct. 28: Milwaukee at Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center
Oct. 30: Detroit at Little Caesars Arena
Nov. 1: Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena
Nov. 3: Ottawa, Ontario, at Canadian Tire Centre
Nov. 5: Toronto at Air Canada Centre
Nov. 7: Columbus, Ohio, at Nationwide Arena
Nov. 10: Edmonton, Alberta, at Rogers Place
Nov. 12: Calgary, Alberta, at Scotiabank Saddledome
Nov. 14: Vancouver at Rogers Arena
Nov. 17: Tacoma, Washington, at Tacoma Dome
Nov. 19: Portland, Oregon, at Moda Center
Nov. 21: San Jose, California, at Center at San Jose
Nov. 23: Sacramento, California, at Golden 1 Center
Nov. 25: Oakland, California, at Oracle Arena
Nov. 28: Phoenix at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Nov. 30: Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena
Dec. 3: Denver at Pepsi Center
Dec. 6: Fresno, California, at Save Mart Center
Dec. 8: San Diego at Viejas Arena
Dec. 11: Inglewood, California, at The Forum
Dec. 13: Inglewood, California, at The Forum
Feb. 5: Houston at Toyota Center
Feb. 7: Dallas at American Airlines Center
Feb. 9: Austin, Texas, at Frank Erwin Center
Feb. 13: Birmingham, Alabama, at Legacy Arena at the BJCC
Feb. 16: New Orleans at Smoothie King Center
Feb. 18: Tampa, Florida, at Amalie Arena
Feb. 20: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at BB&T Center
Feb. 22: Columbia, South Carolina, at Colonial Life Arena
Feb. 24: Charlotte, North Carolina, at Spectrum Center
Feb. 27: Nashville, Tennessee, at Bridgestone Arena
March 3: Atlanta at Philips Arena
March 5: Washington at Capital One Arena
March 9: Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Boardwalk Hall
March 11: New York at Madison Square Garden
March 13: Newark, New Jersey, at Prudential Center
March 15: Hartford, Connecticut, at XL Center
March 20: Albany, New York, at Times Union Center
March 24: Baltimore at Royal Farms Arena
March 26: Buffalo, New York, at KeyBank Center
March 31: Boston at TD Garden
April 5: Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center
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