Stevie Nicks says she's come to accept being the last woman standing in Fleetwood Mac as the veteran rock band's Greatest Hits -- Unleashed tour pulls into the Air Canada Centre tonight for the first of two Toronto shows. (The second is March 26.)

This despite the fact that the group's last road trip, in support of 2003's Say You Will, ended so badly that Nicks declared she wouldn't tour again without another female on the road.

Original member and keyboardist Christine McVie pulled out of touring in 1998 and the more recent idea of hiring Sheryl Crow was derailed.

"The loss of Christine as one of my best girlfriends was horrific for me," said Nicks during an hour-and-45-minute teleconference chat with North American music writers including Sun Media.

"But she's been gone a long, long time now. So now, you know, there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish she'd call up and say, 'I'm back.' But she's not going to. So we've all kind of accepted that now."

Still, Nicks clarified what happened with Crow, who had just gone through a lot in her personal life including adopting her first child when the Fleetwood Mac offer came along last year.

"We rented a studio and we hired a crew and we were ready to go in. We called her and we needed her to come for two or three days to just play. And it was Mother's Day and she had invited all 300 people in her family (to her house). It was her first Mother's Day as a mom and she could not do it.

"And at that point she said, 'I'm going to have to pass.' And I said, 'I think you're making the right decision. You have a new baby. You have survived breast cancer and Lance Armstrong. I don't think this is the right thing for you, Sheryl.'

"And she is still our friend and I still adore her."

Nicks said the experience with Crow made the famously fractious group realize they had to figure out their problems from within.

Here's a quick history of the personal ups and downs of Fleetwood Mac: Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham were a couple when they joined Fleetwood Mac in 1974 but separated soon after, Nicks later had an affair with drummer Mick Fleetwood, and Christine and bassist John McVie were husband and wife until they separated and divorced.

The band's landmark album, 1977's Rumours -- one of the best-selling albums of all time with 30 million copies sold -- is widely thought of as the document of the musical soap opera that was going on at the time.

"I was looking at (having another woman on tour) three years ago as a buffer between me and Lindsey. (But) Lindsey and I don't need a buffer because certainly Sheryl Crow and not any other woman in this world is going to be able to get in the middle of Lindsey and me. So the fact is, is that if Lindsey and I can't work out our problems by ourselves, we might as well throw in the towel.

"So that's what we are currently trying to do -- is work out our own problems."

Added Buckingham, also on the teleconference call with Nicks, along with Fleetwood and McVie: "I think that we all want to dignify the road we've been down. You know if you talk about Stevie in particular, I've known Stevie since I was in high school. And I just think we all want to get to a place where we all feel that unity is sort of waiting in the wings. And it's not that we're not unified, but it is still a work in progress. And I think that's one of the main meanings of what we're doing right now."

Nicks said the bottom line is if Buckingham is happy, everyone is.

"When Lindsey is in a good humour, everybody is in a good humour. When he's happy, everybody is happy. So he seems happy and he seems to be enjoying it.

"Everybody, and not just me and Lindsey, everybody has been getting along great and everybody seems very kind to each other this time around. And when it's going like that, it's a pleasure."

Fleetwood Mac expects to hit studio after tour

In addition to Fleetwood Mac's so-called Greatest Hits -- Unleashed Tour (Stevie Nicks describes it "as unleashing a fury which is what Fleetwood Mac is a lot of the time"), the band is also planning a summer re-release of Rumours, as an expanded CD/DVD box set that includes studio outtakes, stills and film.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood points out it's the first time the band has ever gone on the road without a new album but he expects they'll go back into the studio once they've wrapped up their North American tour.

"There have been discussions for sure that we would love to make some more music," Fleetwood said.

"And I think it's really down to the whole sort of bio-rhythms of how everyone is feeling and what's appropriate. ... So I think the feeling is and the consensus is that we would love to be challenged to go out and do in a couple of years something with some new songs.

"My heart says I believe that will happen."