Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckinghamis an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer, best known as lead guitarist and one of the vocalists of the musical group Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987, and then 1997 to the present day. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2011, Buckingham was ranked 100th...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGuitarist
Date of Birth3 October 1949
CityPalo Alto, CA
CountryUnited States of America
When you become successful on the level that Fleetwood Mac did, it gives you financial freedom, which should allow you to follow your impulses. But oddly enough, they become much harder to follow.
Another thing that was unique about working on this stuff was that I was engineering it. I used many of the things I had learned while I was away from the band. It sort of vindicated my decision to leave in '87.
I think now we're doing the best work we've ever done. Whether or not that's recognized yet is irrelevant to me. I know how I feel about it.
But I don't use a pick onstage at all.
I had to seal off my feelings about Stevie while seeing her every day and having to help her, too. But you get on with it. What was happening to the band was much bigger than any of that.
I lost my power in the world because I did not use it.
I'm also married for the first time, and I have two kids. So there's some kind of good karma right now.
When Stevie and I joined the band, we were in the midst of breaking up, as were John and Christine. By the time Rumours was being recorded, things got worse in terms of psychology and drug use. It was a large exercise in denial - in order for me to get work done.
All of my style came from listening to records.
After a couple of failed attempts, I came up with a weird tuning where I was dropping the G string down a step so that it became a seventh, and it got me to a place where I could play all these figures fairly easily. It was not an easy thing to work out.
Ironically, that was quite a bit of the appeal of Rumours. It's equally interesting on a musical level and as a soap opera.
But by taking the time away, getting myself off the treadmill, and just slowing down and learning, I felt I had so much more to give back. And maybe that was something that needed to happen for all of us.
I just find things that work and embellish them.
I didn't take lessons, and I don't know my scales.