Fleetwood Mac ‘Don’t Really Know’ Why They Keep Losing Guitarists
Mick Fleetwood said he had no idea why Fleetwood Mac have parted ways with so many guitarists over their five-decade career.
The most recent departure was Lindsey Buckingham, who was fired in 2018. Before that, Dave Mason, Billy Burnette, Rick Vito, Bob Welch, Bob Weston, Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green all came and went through the band’s ranks for various reasons.
“We don’t really know,” Fleetwood told Rolling Stone when asked about the guitarist statistics. “It’s daunting when you look at all the great guitarists that have come through our ranks. But John [McVie] and I have always just kept the band going. We can’t do this on our own. Every time [someone leaves], we go, ‘Well, what the fuck are we going to do now? Find another guitar player!’”
Having completed Fleetwood Mac’s first tour with Mike Campbell and Neil Finn in the lineup, Fleetwood is now working on a Peter Green tribute show scheduled for Feb. 25 in London that's set to feature a range of guests including David Gilmour and Steven Tyler.
Green himself will be present, though there are no plans for him to perform.
“I wanted people to know that I did not form this band – Peter Green did,” Fleetwood said. “And I wanted to celebrate those early years of Fleetwood Mac, which started this massive ball that went down the road over the last 50 years. … It’s no secret that [Green] took a left turn and never came back, but he’s okay. He also has really little or no ego at all, which is unbelievable. You want to go, ‘Do you realize what you did?’ ‘No, no. Yeah, I suppose so.’ He has no ego about what he did.”
Fleetwood emphasized that "this is about the journey Peter took into the music, and that music is still alive. Everyone that’s on this show has their own poignant story about being connected to that early band.”