Money, Ego, Power, Control and Laziness Destroyed Fleetwood Mac

Where to begin. This is truly a sad state of affairs. It might be all about money. Fleetwood Mac had to tour. And they had to tour NOW! And the tour had to go off without all of the endless preparation and the perfectionism the band had practiced in the past. Most all of it orchestrated by former band leader, Lindsey Buckingham. A bit of a mad scientist genius who in recent months had become adept at giving diplomatic critiques of his former co-workers. Phrases like "fragmented" were used to describe his relationship with ex-girlfriend Stevie Nicks. His general assessment was simply that his old band had "lost perspective". And even though he admitted that a more visceral reaction was part of his grieving process at the beginning, he never stooped to low brow invective.

Rock band breakups are notoriously loud. But these decibels were mostly fans who threw their hands in the air wondering out loud what could have precipitated this division. Why now? Over what? And who? And while I maintain that Stevie Nicks appears to be the ring leader, it's clear that even Christine McVie was part of the coup. And large bags of Live Nation cash appear to be a big motivator as well. Drummer Mick Fleetwood was overheard complaining about his own personal finances months prior to the ultimatum. The band needed a stadium tour that wouldn't be the usual grind of rehearsals and outtakes. This would be the new loosy goosy Mac. Just wing it. Who wants to hear "Don't Dream It's Over?" And why not throw some girl power at "Black Magic Woman"? It is about a woman, right? And Stevie could be Stevie unfiltered. Like at the rock and roll hall of fame where her speech was interrupted by the space-time continuum. If only we had an eternity or so to hear about all of the people she stepped over to get to her second induction.

Meanwhile, the faithful are still dumbfounded by the lack of concern for their exiled hero. And then without warning, they learn that Lindsey is in a hospital gown posing bravely with his wife. Nothing to see here. As if open heart surgery was an outpatient procedure. And since we know it takes about 2 months to bounce back from a pesky little flew bug, it's quite miraculous that only 4 months later, Buckingham is playing guitar for his daughter's high school graduation. If he were like his former band, this would have been a pay-per-view event with commemorative t-shirts and DVD's. Yet his wife Kristen chose a tasteful twitter photo and a modest explanation.

Buckingham lives in a world now free of pretentiousness. And his former band lives in a world free from that pesky perfectionist. They have barely acknowledged his existence since casting him to the curb. Even though there is likely a healthy percentage of Mac concert goers who are still unaware of the personnel change. You would think though that humanity might trump money at some point. But the last few months were all about breaking the glass ceiling as fans watched the bottom fall out of their favorite band.

None of us can control how others treat their own family. And some of us are having a hard time grappling with the callous way this merry band of party revelers have carried on. But we can take solace in the idea that God and the Universe have at least freed our hero from the shackles of those who undervalued his brilliance and made off with his wears. At least now he can be free to create and live a life far away from the drama that supposedly drove his former band to creative heights.

And while Rumours was the dramatic triumph, it is actually dwarfed by the output that follows. Much of which can be attributed to Buckingham who lifted it, organized it, filtered it and eventually perfected it. His expertise in the studio and at the control board was instrumental at getting this band into the rock and roll hall of fame and for a career that was revived again on "Say You Will".

This should have been a happy ending where all of them walk peacefully into the sunset. But the band leaned on their soap opera pedigree in order to come up with an explanation for what they did. In the end, a combination of money, fame, notoriety, self-fulfillment and ego destroyed one of the great franchises in rock history. Yes all of the old bands will meet their demise at some point. But this one could have died from natural causes.

This writer wishes Lindsey Buckingham a full and complete recovery. I also wish that his former band mates would disband their dreadful cover band so the rest of us can remember them as they once were.