Surgery Damages Lindsey Buckingham's Vocal Cords

A Facebook post from the wife of Lindsey Buckingham raises the possibility that the former Fleetwood Mac star may not be able to sing again. Wife Kristen writes that her 69-year-old husband needed emergency heart surgery, and the operation damaged his vocal cords. "While it is unclear if the damage is permanent, we are hopeful it is not," she writes. She adds in the note that Buckingham "and his heart" are doing well after the surgery. As Rolling Stone notes, Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac parted ways acrimoniously last year, something that Kristen references.

"This past year has been a very stressful and difficult year for our family to say the least," she writes. "But despite all this, our gratitude for life trumps all obstacles we have faced at this moment. We feel so fortunate he’s alive. As does he." She notes that her husband's father and brother both died young from heart disease, at ages 56 and 46. (Lindsey Buckingham previously said that a "screaming" phone call got him booted from Fleetwood Mac.)