Lindsey Buckingham Biography 

American guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee for his time with influential rock band Fleetwood Mac. He has also had a long, though less commercially successful, solo career.

Lindsey Adams Buckingham was born October 3, 1949 in Palo Alto, California. His parents were Rutheda Elliott and Morris Buckingham. Buckingham grew up with his family in the small community of Atherton, California.

While Buckingham was always drawn to music, both he and his brothers were heavily involved with swimming. Buckingham eventually dropped the sport in exchange for a fulltime emphasis on music, but his brother, Greg Buckingham, secured a silver medal in the 1968 Olympics for the sport.

Buckingham obtained his education from Menlo Atherton High School, where he met and befriended Stevie Nicks. Sharing a passion for music, they eventually formed the Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band. Fritz proved popular and had enough success to open for rock legends Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, and Jimi Hendrix.

Nicks and Buckingham soon began a romantic relationship in addition to their professional endeavors. They both attended and subsequently dropped out of San Jose State.

By 1973, their music had taken off, and they were signed to Polydor Records, releasing Buckingham Nicks in the same year. Unfortunately, sales were not what the duo hoped, and they were dropped from their label.

Buckingham Nicks proved helpful, however, as Mick Fleetwood heard the track “Frozen Love” from the album and decided he needed the guitarist for his new band. Fleetwood approached Buckingham, who agreed to join Fleetwood only if Nicks could join the band as well.

Fleetwood Mac came together in early 1974, releasing the widely successful Rumours. Although Buckingham and the group had a commercial success on their hands, his personal life was going through turmoil. Around this time, he and Nicks split up in a very public and very heated manner.

With the production of their follow up album, Tusk, Buckingham began a new romantic relationship with Carol Ann Harris. They lived together until 1984.

After releasing Tango in the Night, Buckingham found himself professionally and personally burned out with Fleetwood Mac. He officially left the band just before they left to tour and promote Tango. He was subsequently replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

Never leaving music, Buckingham’s first solo endeavor was entitled Law and Order, and it hit the shelves in 1981. Proving there was no animosity, Fleetwood and Christine McVie provided guest appearances on the album.

His follow up album was Go Insane, and it included a tribute to his early musical influence Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys.

It wasn’t until 1992, however, that his third album, Out of the Cradle, was released. In the same year, he rejoined Fleetwood Mac to perform the single “Don’t Stop” as the campaign anthem of Bill Clinton.

Although it was not the plan, Buckingham, Nicks, Christine and John McVie came together for a hugely successful tour in 1997. In 2003, they released Say You Will, their first studio album in nearly a decade and a half.

In his personal life, Buckingham and Kristen Messner had a son on July 8, 1998. Two years later, the couple officially married. Their second child came in 2000, and their third was born in 2004.