Following similar messages from Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham has posted a tribute to bandmate Christine McVie, who died yesterday (Nov. 30) at age 79 after a short illness.
“Christine McVie’s sudden passing is profoundly heartbreaking,” Buckingham said in a handwritten note posted to his social media accounts. “Not only were she and I part of the magical family of Fleetwood Mac, to me, Christine was a musical comrade, a friend, a soul mate, a sister. For over four decades, we helped each other create a beautiful body of work and a lasting legacy that continues to resonate today.
“I feel very lucky to have known her,” he continued. “Though she will be deeply missed, her spirit will live on through that body of work and that legacy.”
Buckingham and McVie’s creative interplay is best heard on Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop,” the biggest hit of the band’s career (No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977). The musicians also teamed for a 2017 album released under both of their names, comprising material originally intended for a Fleetwood Mac project.
Buckingham was fired from Fleetwood Mac in April 2018 after long-simmering tensions with Nicks, and did not participate in the group’s most recent tour in 2018-19, on which he was replaced by both Neil Finn and Mike Campbell. His final concert with McVie was a five-song set on Jan. 26, 2018, at New York’s Radio City Music Hall as part of the MusiCares Person of the Year Event.
