Musicians in love. Fleetwood Mac is probably the most famous example of bandmates dating – and the complications that come with it.
“I broke up with Lindsay [Buckingham] in 1976. We’d only been in Fleetwood Mac for a year and a half and we were breaking up when we joined Fleetwood Mac,” Stevie Nicks recalled in a February 2022 conversation with The New Yorker. “So we rekindled our relationship, because I was smart enough to know that if we’d broken up the second month I was in Fleetwood Mac, it would have ruined everything.”
The Arizona native continued, “I just bided my time and tried to make everything as easy as possible, tried to be as sweet and nice as possible with Lindsey. He wasn’t happy either. Then something happened that was, you know, “I’m done.” And he knew it. It was about time. And the band was solid, until then, so I could walk away knowing it was safe. And that the band was safe. And that we could work this out.”
The duo’s split provided inspiration for the group’s critically acclaimed 1977 album, rumors. Nicks and Buckingham wrote “Dreams” and “Go Your Own Way” respectively about each other for the LP.
“Both of those songs kind of mean the same thing — it’s really about us breaking up,” Nicks said. “He looks at it in a very unpleasant, angry way, and I say, in my more airy way, we’re going to be fine. We’ll get through this.”
The other bandmates’ relationships have stood the test of time. When Bruce Springsteen guest Patti Scialfa to join his E Street Band on tour as a backup singer in 1984, the “Born in the USA” musician was still married to Julianne Phillips. Springsteen and Phillips separated in 1998, and the Grammy winner began living with Scialfa shortly thereafter.
In a 1996 interview with lawyerthe “Thunder Road” singer said he received backlash for starting a new relationship before his divorce was finalized.
“It’s a strange society that thinks it has the right to tell people who they should love and who they shouldn’t. But the truth is, I basically ignored everything as much as I could. I said, “Well, all I know is that this feels real, and maybe I’m a mess [on] here in a way, but that’s life,'” he told the media at the time.
The New Jersey native married Scialfa in 1991. They have three children: Jessica, Evan and Sam.
Scroll for a guide to where the musicians have met their bandmates over the years:
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A guide to band members who’ve dated each other over the years: Paramore, Fleetwood Mac and more
Musicians in love. Fleetwood Mac is probably the most famous example of bandmates dating – and the complications that come with it. “I broke up with Lindsay [Buckingham] in 1976. We’d only been in Fleetwood Mac for a year and a half and we were breaking up when we joined Fleetwood Mac,” Stevie Nicks recalled in a February 2022 conversation with The New Yorker. “So we rekindled our relationship, because I was smart enough to know that if we’d broken up the second month I was in Fleetwood Mac, it would have ruined everything.” The Arizona native continued, “I just bided my time and tried to make everything as easy as possible, tried to be as sweet and nice as possible with Lindsey. He wasn’t happy either. Then something happened that was, you know, “I’m done.” And he knew it. It was about time. And the band was solid, by then, so I could walk away knowing he was safe. And that the band was safe. And that we could fix this.”
[jwplayer sAm1s1uw-zhNYySv2]The duo’s split provided inspiration for the group’s critically acclaimed 1977 album, rumors. Nicks and Buckingham wrote “Dreams” and “Go Your Own Way” respectively about each other for the LP. “Both of those songs kind of mean the same thing — it’s really about us breaking up,” Nicks said. “He looks at it in a very unpleasant, angry way, and I say, in my more airy way, we’re going to be fine. We’ll get through this.” The other bandmates’ relationships have stood the test of time. When Bruce Springsteen guest Patti Scialfa to join his E Street Band on tour as a backup singer in 1984, the “Born in the USA” musician was still married to Julianne Phillips. Springsteen and Phillips separated in 1998, and the Grammy winner began living with Scialfa shortly thereafter. In a 1996 interview with lawyer, the “Thunder Road” singer said he received backlash for starting a new relationship before his divorce was finalized. “It’s a strange society that thinks it has the right to tell people who they should love and who they shouldn’t. But the truth is, I basically ignored everything as much as I could. I said, “Well, all I know is that this feels real, and maybe I’m a mess [on] here in a way, but that’s life,'” he told the media at the time. The New Jersey native married Scialfa in 1991. They have three children: Jessica, Evan and Sam. Scroll for a guide to where the musicians have met their bandmates over the years:
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Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal
The Sweet escape The singer began dating her No Doubt bandmate shortly after joining the group in 1987. Although the duo broke up in 1994, they remained friends and bandmates. The breakup inspired Stefani to write some of the songs on the 1995 album The Tragic Kingdomincluding “Don’t speak”.
“I was on tour for The Tragic Kingdom for 28 months. I was going through a breakup and in every interview we were talking about it, so I was opening this wound every hour. It was so brutal, but I don’t know how I did it,” the “Hollaback Girl” musician said the Guardian in September 2012.
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Jack White and Meg White
The White Stripes were married from 1996 to 2000. After their split, the rock duo released five studio albums together before officially disbanding in 2011.
Early in the band’s tenure, Jack – who took Meg’s last name when they married – said he and his bandmate were brothers rather than exes.
“If we had presented ourselves in a different way…how would we have been perceived, in the first place? When you see a band consisting of two parts, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, you think, “Oh, I get it.” … When they’re brother and sister, you go, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ You care more about the music, not the relationship,” the guitarist said Rolling Stone in September 2005.
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Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham
Nicks and Buckingham were already an item when they joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975. Their split served as the inspiration for the group’s 1977 album. rumors.
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Christine McVie and John McVie
The other Fleetwood Mac couple, Christine and John, were married from 1968 to 1976.
“I dare say, if I hadn’t joined Fleetwood Mac, we might still be together,” Christine said. Rolling Stone in 1997. “I think it’s impossible to work in a band with your husband. Imagine the strain of living with someone 24 hours a day, on the road, in an already stressful situation, with the added negativity of too much alcohol.”
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Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill
Jean wrote about his love triangle with his Fugees Hill bandmate and his wife, Claudine Jeanin his 2012 memoir, Purpose: An immigrant’s story.
“Lauryn and I were chasing a dream together, and that goal, along with our mutual love of music, was the language that brought us together. And there was an attraction there; I’m not going to lie and act like just because we spent time together we ended up together. Lauryn is beautiful and because of her looks and talent and everything we’ve shared with each other — from songs to books to lyrics — love was bound to grow,” he wrote of Hill.
He added: “I was with these two incredible women at the same time, which is not something I’m proud of, but it was definitely inevitable. I couldn’t say no to either of them, and I mean it when I say I loved them both, because I did.”
Despite the affair with the “Killing Me Softly” singer, the Haiti native and Claudinette have been married since 1994. They adopted a daughter in 2005.
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Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa
The Long walk home the author and Scialfa, who began touring with the E Street Band in 1984, have been married since 1991.
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Win Butler and Regine Chassagne
The Arcade Fire musicians met in college, becoming bandmates in 2001. They exchanged vows in 2003 and welcomed a son in 2013.
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Hayley Williams and Taylor York
The members of Paramore confirmed they were dating during a September 2022 interview with the Guardian. The two have worked together since York joined the group in 2007.