Mick Fleetwood talks about affair with Stevie Nicks in new memoir 'Play On'

For over four decades Mick Fleetwood has been the drummer for one of the most successful bands of all time -- Fleetwood Mac -- and now the 67-year-old musician has written his memoir. "Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography" tells the story of the legendary band's creation, Fleetwood's affair with Stevie Nicks, and his problems with hard drugs.

FOX411: Did you enjoy writing the book?

Mick Fleetwood: A creative outlook would be a good way to explain for me the process of what it reveals to me. I don't sit around writing songs. It's been a great vehicle for me to take responsibility for the way the book turned out and it comes under the heading of enjoying the creative thought process. I found it stimulating.

FOX411: You write about your affair with Stevie Nicks and it sounds like you feel you two could have had a future together.

Fleetwood: That's true. We had a very bright moment. It wasn't an on-again-off-again relationship. It was on for the time it was on and we know why, and it was not be, though it was a timely thing for both of us that we parted in the night. Having said that we are and we were before that little firefly connection that we certainly both own is that we were great friends before and we are great friends after and for that we are lucky and grateful that it is the case.

But it was very real and it is quietly thought provoking, but that's one of those things. Once in a while, especially when someone asks you about it, you go, 'Wow, another place and not such a crazy world around, maybe those two souls may have been positioned to have a longer moment together or a very long period of being together.' We celebrate that we are still great friends and we know what happened and it was very bright and crazy and we have those memories.

FOX411: During the making of 'Rumours' there was so much interpersonal drama going on among the band members.

Fleetwood: It is quite extraordinary that we survived that and all of the survival is now channeled into an understanding that my read on is that what we were doing was so powerful and focused that no one, not even in a whole heap of emotional pain, was going to walk away from. All five of us were going through the same thing. I was just spared that my partner wasn't singing into a microphone six inches away. That alone is still extraordinary and that Christine (McVie) is back with the band is an amazing thing within itself. For Stevie (Nicks) and Lindsay (Buckingham) it's been a real challenge from time to time to co-exist. All I can say is they would not be doing what they're doing unless they found a place where this can really be acceptable and okay and at least reasonably emotionally safe which is actually a really lucky thing, and we're still on that journey.

FOX411: You're unfortunately sort of infamous for the reportedly huge amount of cocaine you did in the 70's.

Fleetwood: You don't want to romanticize it but you have to have some sense of humor about it. You also have to be saying after telling a couple of war stories that the reality is it turns into a damn nightmare and is not to be lorded around, because there's a sort of an element of irresponsible behavior when you start guffawing about it. It's a hard one to talk about.