The Provocative Lindsey Buckingham Vocals Blamed On Stevie Nicks

You probably have that one song that you misunderstood the lyrics and sang along to in the wrong way. Or, you may have spent quite a lot of time trying to discover who actually sang that part you liked or whose sample was in the chorus. It seems that Fleetwood Mac fans had the same type of confusion when they listened to one of the band’s memorable songs.

After the release of ‘Mirage,’ it was rumored that Fleetwood Mac took a hiatus. However, they later entered the studio and recorded 1987’s ‘Tango in the Night,’ which started as Lindsey Buckingham’s solo project but later turned into a Fleetwood Mac album. Following the release, the record became their biggest commercial success since ‘Rumours.’

‘Tango in the Night’ spawned four hits, ‘Little Lies,’ ‘Everywhere,’ ‘Seven Wonders,’ and ‘Big Love.’ Written by Lindsey Buckingham, ‘Big Love’ was the album’s first single. When fans listened to the song, they thought Buckingham exchanged vocals with Stevie Nicks at some certain point of the track. However, they were wrong.

Lindsey Buckingham’s initial intention for ‘Big Love’ was to record it for the solo album he started working on in 1985. Instead, the song ended up in Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tango in the Night.’ Toward the middle of ‘Big Love,’ a provocative ‘oh-ahh vocal exchange is heard. The ‘ahh’ part sounds like a female voice, which many fans assumed belonged to Stevie Nicks.

To many fans’ surprise, it wasn’t Stevie’s voice. Actually, Buckingham performed both parts, and his voice was sampled and altered to make it sound feminine. Although he knew of the sound effects, the singer found fan reactions bizarre. During a 2013 interview with Classic Rock, he said, “It was odd that so many people wondered if it was Stevie on there with me.”

So, although many believed Stevie Nicks exchanged vocal parts with Lindsey Buckingham during the ‘oh-ahh’ part of ‘Big Love,’ it was Lindsey himself. Apparently, the edit was done so nicely that Fleetwood Mac could trick most of their fans into thinking Stevie accompanied Buckingham on that part.