Lindsey Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American guitarist and singer for the musical group Fleetwood Mac. During his career he has also done some independent recording since he first became a member of Fleetwood Mac. He is married to photographer Kristen Messner and has three children.
Born in Palo Alto, California, Buckingham was the third and youngest son of Morris and Rutheda Buckingham. Lindsey had two older brothers, Jeff and Greg. Growing up in the Bay Area community of Atherton, California, Lindsey and his brothers were encouraged to swim competitively. Though Lindsey dropped out of athletics to pursue music, his brother Greg went on to win a silver medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
Lindsey's first forays into guitar playing took place on a toy Mickey Mouse guitar, playing along to his brother Jeff's extensive collection of 45s. Noticing his talent, Lindsey's parents bought their son a $35 Harmony guitar.
Buckingham never took guitar lessons and does not read music. By age 13, he became interested in folk music and practiced the fingerpicking (also known as "travis picking") styles of The Kingston Trio. At 15 he joined a small folk group providing vocals and guitar work.
Lindsey met Stevie Nicks while they both attended Menlo Atherton High School, and later formed The Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band with her and three other friends. Lindsey's fingerpicking style gave him difficulty playing rock guitar, and he was transferred to bass. After gaining popularity at Menlo-Atherton High School, " Fritz" became a popular local act and even opened for such acts as Santana, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.
