Former Fleetwood Mac bandmates Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham began dating in 1972 before calling it quits four years later They continued performing together for years, and their post-breakup performances have become viral hits On July 17, the exes shared seemingly coordinated Instagram posts, leading fans to speculate about a potential reunion There are few relationships that go down in history likeStevie NicksandLindsey Buckingham's. After meeting in high school, the formerFleetwood Macbandmates began dating in 1972 before splitting four years later. But just as Nicks and Buckingham's relationship was coming apart, Fleetwood Mac was rising to fame. So, for years to come, the pair continued to make music and perform together as exes, alongside bandmatesMick Fleetwood, John McVie and the lateChristine McVie. Decades later, Nicks and Buckingham's romance and post-breakup interactions have become a public fascination tied to several iconic performances — ones that even inspired the book-turned-television seriesDaisy Jones & the Six, loosely based on Fleetwood Mac. In 2018, the pair had a public fallout when Buckingham was kicked out of the band andplaced the blame on Nicks. While fans have hoped for a reunion of the core group (minus Christine, whodiedin 2022), Buckingham, now married toKristen Messner, told PEOPLE that he would have to reconcile with Nicks in order for that to happen. "You have to forgive," he said. "You have to let things goand move on and just remember that we're all doing the best we can." On July 17, the pairshared seemingly coordinated Instagram poststhat featured two halves of a phrase from their 1973 song "Frozen Love," leaving fans wondering if the pair were teasing some kind of reunion after all. So, what happened between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham? From joining Fleetwood Mac as a couple to the breakup anthem that's been heard around the world, here's a look back at Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's relationship. Hulton Archive via Getty Nicks and Buckingham first met as students at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, Calif. Nicks, who was in her senior year, soon joined Buckingham's psychedelic rock band, Fritz. The pair went on to attend San José State University, but they both eventually dropped out to chase their music dreams. Fritz later opened for artists likeJimi HendrixandJanis Joplin. Richard E. Aaron/Redferns In 1972, Nicks and Buckingham sparked a romance when Fritz disbanded. As Stephen Davis recalled in his biography,Gold Dust Woman, Nicks later said that she wasn't sure if they would have "become a couple" if it wasn't for them "leaving the band," per theLos Angeles Times. "It kind of pushed us together." The couple then moved to Los Angeles and released a joint album,Buckingham Nicks, in 1973. Simultaneously, their relationship was also facing some troubles. "When we moved, it was lonely. I didn't have any girlfriends. And I was the one who worked," Nicks toldBillboardin September 2014. "I had to be a waitress, and a cleaning lady, in order to support us — because Lindsey didn't want to play four sets at Chuck's Steakhouse, where we could've made $500 a week. To him, that was selling out. He wanted to play original music, so I went along with that." On Dec. 13, 1974, Fleetwood asked Buckingham to join his band. Though he agreed, there was a catch: there had to be a spot for Nicks in the group, too. Despite their troubles, the pair tried to put on a united front for the sake of the band's success. "When we joined Fleetwood Mac, I said, 'OK, this is what we've been working for since 1968. And so Lindsey, you and I have to sew this relationship back up. We have too much to lose here,' " Nicks toldBillboard. "We need to put our problems behind us. Maybe we're not going to have any more problems, because we're finally going to have some money. And I won't have to be a waitress." Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Nicks told Billboard that upon joining Fleetwood Mac, the pair put their relationship "back together." "We weren't fighting about money, we had a really nice place, and we were going to work with these hysterically funny English people every day, making great music," she said. Nicks continued, "It was OK for a while, until it wasn't," adding that their relationship "blew up" by the end of 1976. In 1990, Nicks told Australia'sWoman's Ownthat their breakup was a "living nightmare." "He and I were about as compatible as a boa constrictor and a rat." Their split came right before the band recorded their second album,Rumours. During a 2005 conversation withBlender, Buckingham recalled he and Nicks went "through this elaborate exercise of denial,keeping our personal feelingsin one corner of the room while trying to be professional in the other" during the recording process. Bruce Gilbert/Newsday RM via Getty While some celebrities keep their breakups out of the spotlight, Nicks and Buckingham's was on full display as it inspired the band's 1977 hit "Silver Springs." During an October 2023 conversation with PEOPLE, Nicks recalled the moment Fleetwood and Buckingham told her the track had been cut from 1977'sRumours. "Do you mean 'Silver Springs,'probably the best song I've ever written?" she recalled saying to the pair. "And they're like, 'Well, yeah. Let's move on with that.' " The track was not removed entirely, but rather put on the B-side of the album's first single. According toRolling Stone, it was a disagreement with Fleetwood over the rights to "Silver Springs" that ultimately led her to leave the group in 1990. But in 1997, the band's core five reunited for a live album,The Dance, and an accompanying tour. The gut-wrenching performance brought newfound success to the track, which earned a Grammy nomination at the time. While performing "Silver Springs" duringThe Dancetour, Nicks faced away from the crowd and directly at Buckingham, looking directly into his eyes as she sang the song's vengeful chorus: "I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you / Give me just a chance / You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you." Years later, the viral clip has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. In March 2023, Buckingham himself acknowledged the track's newfound popularity onTikTok, sharing a video of himself performing its guitar solo, captioned, "I heard we're talking about that '97 'Silver Springs' again." D Dipasupil/FilmMagic In 2018, Buckingham was kicked out of Fleetwood Mac. At the time, many people speculated that it was Buckingham's behavior following an in-group disagreement after a performance at MusiCares that led to his exit, while he maintains he asked for three months to promote his solo album. But in a September 2021 interview with PEOPLE, Buckingham said his removal from the group was "all Stevie's doing." "Stevie basically gave the band an ultimatum that either I had to go or she would go. It would be like[Mick] Jaggersaying, "Well, eitherKeith [Richards]has to go or I'm going to go.' " In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Nicks called Buckingham's take "revisionist history." "I did not demand he be fired," she said. "Frankly, I fired myself. I proactively removed myself from the band and a situation I considered to be toxic to my well-being. I was done. If the band went on without me, so be it." Steve Granitz/Getty On July 17, Nicks and Buckingham posted what seemed to be coordinated Instagram posts that included the lyrics from their 1973Buckingham Nickssong "Frozen Love." Nickspostedthe handwritten words "and if you go forward...," then Buckingham shared animagewith the words "I'll follow you there." Just days before their Instagram posts, Fleetwood posted avideoof himself listening to "Frozen Love," captioned, "Magic then, magic now," which was also shared to the band's official profile. Fans began speculating what all of the cryptic posts might signal, with some social media users suggesting the possibility of the pair remastering and releasing their 1973 album. "WHY DID THE FLEETWOOD MAC INSTA JUST POST MICK LISTENING TO FROZEN LOVE???? IS BUCKINGHAM NICKS FINALLY GETTING REMASTERED???" one fan wrote onX. Another useradded, "Okay wait you guys remember how they removed some Buckingham Nicks live tracks from Spotify a while ago???? It's all coming together." Neither Nicks' nor Buckingham's reps had immediate comment on the cryptic Instagram posts. Read the original article onPeople
