If you scroll through old pictures of Lindsey Buckingham from the mid-seventies, you’re not just looking at a guy in a band. You’re looking at a man who was essentially trying to outrun his own shadow. There’s this one shot from 1975—right as the White Album era was kicking off—where he’s standing between Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie. He looks like a Renaissance painting. Long, wavy hair, a thick beard, and that intense, thousand-yard stare that says, "I am currently re-mixing this conversation in my head."
Most people think of Fleetwood Mac as a soap opera set to music. They aren't wrong. But when you look at the visual history of Lindsey Buckingham, you see the actual cost of that drama. You see a guy who went from a folk-rock hippie to a manic, short-haired post-punk experimentalist in the span of about three years. Honestly, the hair alone tells more of a story than most VH1 documentaries.
The Buckingham Nicks Era: Before the Storm
Before the private jets and the cocaine-fueled studio sessions at Record Plant, there was just Lindsey and Stevie. The pictures of Lindsey Buckingham from 1973, particularly the ones taken for the Buckingham Nicks album cover, are legendary for all the wrong reasons. Or the right ones, depending on how much you like awkward seventies' vulnerability.
They were broke. They were beautiful. They were topless on their own album cover because they thought it looked "artistic." Lindsey looks soft here. There’s a sweetness to his face that disappears almost the second he joins Fleetwood Mac. He was playing a Fender Stratocaster back then, trying to find his footing while Stevie was cleaning houses to pay the rent.
The Rumours Transformation: 1977 and the Death of the Hippie
By 1977, everything changed. If you look at live shots from the Rumours tour, the softness is gone. This is where we see the "Big Love" architect start to emerge. He’s often captured mid-stride, hunched over his guitar like he’s trying to strangle it.
- The Gear Change: This is when he started moving away from the Strat and toward the Gibson Les Paul Custom.
- The Performance Style: Photos from this era show him sweating through velvet blazers, eyes rolled back.
- The Emotional Weight: You can literally see the tension between him and Stevie in every frame where they share a microphone.
Photographers like Janet Macoska and Herbert Worthington captured him during this peak. Worthington, in particular, had a knack for catching Lindsey in those quiet, backstage moments where he looked absolutely exhausted. It wasn't just the touring; it was the fact that he was producing the most successful album on the planet while his personal life was a smoking crater.
📖 Related: Isaiah Washington Movies and Shows: Why the Star Still Matters
Why the Tusk Haircut Shocked Everyone
In 1979, Lindsey did something that, at the time, felt like a betrayal to the "California Cool" brand. He cut his hair. Short. Like, really short.
When the Tusk sessions began, pictures of Lindsey Buckingham showed a man who looked more like he belonged in a New Wave club in London than a beach house in Malibu. He was listening to The Clash and Talking Heads. He was recording vocals while lying on the floor of the studio. He was screaming into microphones.
The photos from the Tusk era, especially the ones by Sam Emerson, show a jagged, manic energy. He’s got these sharp, angular clothes. He looks older, leaner, and significantly more dangerous. This wasn't just a style choice; it was a middle finger to the "Rumours" machine. He wanted to prove he wasn't just a pop star. He was a pioneer.
The Rick Turner Model 1: A Visual Icon
You can't talk about pictures of Lindsey Buckingham without talking about that guitar. You know the one—the brownish, teardrop-shaped hunk of wood that looks like it was carved from a 500-year-old tree. That’s the Rick Turner Model 1.
Lindsey started using it around 1979 because he wanted a sound that sat somewhere between a Les Paul and a Stratocaster. Visually, it became his Excalibur. In almost every iconic photo from the eighties onward—whether it's the "Go Insane" video or the legendary 1997 The Dance reunion—that guitar is there. It’s as much a part of his silhouette as his curly hair.
👉 See also: Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett: Why Fans Are Still Divided Over the Daimyo of Tatooine
The Solo Years and The Dance (1987-1997)
After he left the band in 1987 (right after Tango in the Night), the photos get a bit more experimental. He’s rocking the "electrical socket" hairstyle—vertical, frantic, and grey-streaked.
But then 1997 happens. The Dance.
If you want to see the definitive Lindsey Buckingham, look at the photography from that live special. He’s wearing a simple black suit. He’s older, but he’s playing with more ferocity than he did in his twenties. There’s a specific shot of him playing "Big Love" solo on stage. Just one man, one guitar, and enough technique to make every other guitar player in the world want to quit. That’s the image people usually have in their heads when they think of him now.
What Most People Get Wrong About His "Look"
People think Lindsey’s style was just "seventies rock star." Kinda. But it was actually deeply calculated. He used his appearance to reflect his musical headspace.
- Bearded Lindsey: Folk-rock, collaborative, trying to fit in.
- Short-Haired Lindsey: Experimental, aggressive, "Tusk" era rebellion.
- The Grey Lion: The elder statesman who still wants to melt your face off with a finger-picked solo.
He didn't just age; he evolved. He used his image to signal that he was no longer the guy who wrote "Monday Morning." He was the guy who could spend 300 hours perfecting the sound of a snare drum.
✨ Don't miss: Why Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Actors Still Define the Modern Spy Thriller
How to Find High-Quality Archival Images
If you’re a collector or just a fan looking for the "good stuff," don't just stick to Google Images. There are specific archives that hold the real gems.
- Getty Images/Editorial: This is where you find the raw, unedited press shots from the WEA Records offices in London (1980) or the US Festival (1983).
- Iconic Images: They host the Janet Macoska collection, which has some of the best black-and-white close-ups of him during his 1981 solo promotion.
- Fine Art America: Often has prints from photographers like Fin Costello and Erica Echenberg, who caught him during the Mirage and Tango eras.
Actionable Tips for Fans and Collectors
If you are looking to build a digital or physical collection of Buckingham's history, pay attention to the details. Look for photos where you can see his hands. Because he doesn't use a pick, his finger-style technique is a huge part of his "visual" sound. Look for the calluses. Look for the way he anchors his hand on the bridge of the Turner Model 1.
Also, check out the Tusk documentary footage. It’s grainy, it’s chaotic, and it shows him at his most unfiltered. That’s where the "real" Lindsey lives—in the messy, unposed moments between the hits.
Go check out the Rick Turner Guitars website if you want to see the technical specs of the instrument he’s holding in 90% of those photos. It’ll give you a whole new appreciation for the engineering behind the image. Next time you see a photo of him from the The Dance era, look at the Gibson Chet Atkins SST he uses for "Big Love"—it’s a specific choice for a specific percussive sound that changed everything for his solo career.