The success of miniseries “Daisy Jones and The Six,” based on the book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, has reignited the internet’s obsession with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. In a 2019 interview with Penguin Books UK, Reid stated that she drew inspiration from the dynamic between Nicks and Buckingham when crafting the tumultuous relationship between main characters Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne.
In the past few months, TikTok has been flooded with clips of Fleetwood Mac performances where the tension between Nicks and Buckingham is palpable. However, one seems to stand out from the rest: the 1997 performance of “Silver Springs” live at the Warner Bros. studios. This song about an inescapable failed relationship starts with Nicks singing solemnly to the audience. As the song progresses, the energy ramps up until Nicks and Buckingham stare into each other’s eyes, belting out, “Time cast a spell on you, but you won’t forget me. I know I could’ve loved you, but you would not let me.” Just like Nicks and Buckingham haven’t been able to escape the ghosts of their romantic relationship, this emergence of this performance has shown that their fans haven’t either.
Nicks and Buckingham were infamously linked for years before they joined Fleetwood Mac. They met at a high school party in San Francisco, later playing in the rock ‘n’ roll band, Fritz, before leaving to form a duo. Their exit from the band not only connected the two professionally, but also romantically. From 1971 to 1975, they worked together under the name Buckingham Nicks. In a 1997 Rolling Stones interview Nicks said, “From ’71 through ’75, I lived with Lindsey all those years. We were absolutely married. In every way [but for the ring]. I cooked, I cleaned, I worked. I took care of him.” During this time, they lived the time-old tale of two musicians struggling to make ends meet, persevering with their love for their art and each other.
In 1975 the duo joined Fleetwood Mac and their romantic relationship quickly unraveled. The couple called it quits in 1976 during the production of their “Rumours” album. That was the official end of the Buckingham-Nicks romance. However, as many great artists do, they preserved all their intense emotions for their music.
For this reason, the idea of Nicks and Buckingham’s whirlwind entanglement carried much further than their five-year romantic relationship ever did. In a 2009 interview with MTV, Nicks told the interviewer that she and Buckingham were like “beauty and the beast. It means that the love is always there but we’ll never be together, so that’s even more romantic.” Looking back in a 2011 interview with Craig McLean at The Guardian, Nicks said that if she and Buckingham had never joined Fleetwood Mac (and been exposed to the fame and drugs that came with it) they would have probably been married and had a family. However, she told McLean, “Fleetwood Mac was our destiny,” and she was happy with how her life turned out.
Though it seems like the singers have found peace in their separation, why can’t the same be said for their fans? The truth is, this obsession many have for the duo may not be about Nicks or Buckingham at all. It’s easy to get caught up with the idea that, regardless of setbacks and innate differences, love conquers all (think “The Notebook,” “When Harry Met Sally” or “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”)
One example that stands out the most to me is the ending of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, where Joel and Clementine agree to give their relationship another try, without confronting any of their issues they had together in the past. This ending is often glorified as “love conquering all”, but it shows how this “what could have been” trope, paired with the media’s obsession with toxic relationships is so deeply ingrained in our cultural landscape. This is why emotionally charged performances like “Silver Springs” have such a cult-following– we simply can’t help but see ourselves in Nick’s or Buckingham’s place. In a world where many of us hope to reunite with lovers past, Nick’s and Buckingham continue to stoke the fire of a passionate and emotional love story.