How Lindsey Buckingham Reacted to 1 Newspaper’s Bad Review of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’
Lindsey Buckingham ripped up a newspaper after reading a bad review about Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. Here’s what we learned from Carol Ann Harris’ memoir Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac.
Lindsey Buckingham appeared in the rock band Fleetwood Mac
Buckingham and Stevie Nicks appeared as a songwriting duo, later earning their place in Fleetwood Mac. Shortly after joining this group with Nicks, Buckingham began writing songs for the rock band. Buckingham had a role in creating Rumours — a full-length album featuring “Dreams,” “The Chain,” “Go Your Own Way,” “You Make Loving Fun,” and other hits.
Lindsey Buckingham ripped up a newspaper after a bad ‘Rumours’ review
Before even touring with their new music, Fleetwood Mac was impacted by Rumours. One day, Buckingham and his then-girlfriend, Carol Ann Harris pulled into a diner for lunch, as noted in the memoir Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac.
The newspaper dispenser held copies of Bam, (described as “San Francisco’s answer to New York’s Village Voice.”) The cover featured a picture of Fleetwood Mac mentioning that their Rumours review was inside.
“Lindsey grabbed the newspaper with excitement in his eyes,” Harris wrote. “Stopping dead in his tracks, he almost tore the paper trying to get to the review of Rumours. I stood expectantly beside him as he started to read.”
“Within seconds his face darkened and looks of horror, despair, and rage swiftly moved across his features,” she continued. “He looked up at me and said in a tight voice, ‘They f****** hate the album’ His voice rose in volume. ‘They basically said it’s crap! They trash it! Jesus, Carol, they hate the album!'”
He ripped the newspaper and threw it on the ground. Claiming he wasn’t hungry anymore, the couple got their food go-to. Of course, Rumours became a fan-favorite release, even earning recognition decades after its debut.
‘Rumours’ became one of Fleetwood Mac’s most popular albums
Rumours became one of the most popular Fleetwood Mac releases, even earning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The album also snagged a nomination in the Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Group category.
“The Chain,” was co-written by all five members of the band — Buckingham, Nicks, John McVie, Christine McVie, and Mick Fleetwood.
Buckingham wrote “Go Your Own Way” from the 1977 album, which later received over 690 million Spotify plays. The most popular song on the music streaming platform is “Dreams,” with over a billion plays. “Dreams” also became a TikTok trend, with fans riding their skateboards and sipping cranberry juice to this original.
About two years later, the rock band debuted Tusk. That was followed by Mirage — released in the 1980s. Since then, several Fleetwood Mac members branched out to release solo music including Nicks and Buckingham.
