They are one of the biggest selling music groups of all time. They were not only the queens of country but also the top of the pops, and through relationship woes, political upheaval, and seismic shifts in their landscapes these women have remained true to their art and true to their hearts.
composed of founding members (and sisters) Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines. The band formed in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, and was originally composed of four women performing bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years without attracting a major label. After the departure of one bandmate, the replacement of their lead singer, and a slight change in their repertoire, the Dixie Chicks soon achieved commercial success, beginning in 1998 with hit songs "There's Your Trouble" and "Wide Open Spaces".
The Dixie Chicks have won 13 Grammy Awards, including five in 2007 for Taking the Long Way—which received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year—and "Not Ready to Make Nice", a single from that album. By March 2020, with 33 million certified albums sold, and sales of 27.5 million albums in the U.S. alone, they had become the top selling all-female band and biggest-selling country group in the U.S. during the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present).
On March 10, 2003, during a London concert, nine days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines told the audience: "We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States (George W. Bush) is from Texas," which garnered a positive reaction from the British audience but led to a contrasting negative reaction, and ensuing boycotts, in the United States, where talk shows denounced the band, their albums were discarded in public protest and corporate broadcasting networks blacklisted them for the remainder of the Bush years. After a touring hiatus, they toured again in 2010, 2013 and 2016.
On March 16, 2006, the Dixie Chicks released the single "Not Ready to Make Nice" in advance of their upcoming album. Written by the Dixie Chicks and songwriter Dan Wilson, it directly addressed the political controversy that had surrounded the group for the previous three years. Robison said, "The stakes were definitely higher on that song. We knew it was special because it was so autobiographical, and we had to get it right. And once we had that song done, it freed us up to do the rest of the album without that burden." She said writing the song had become their "therapy", since they had to hold in so many stored emotions for so long. Thus, the band considered the album not so much political as very personal.
The question of how the group's new record would fare commercially attracted intense media interest. Taking the Long Way was released in stores and online on May 22, 2006. The album was produced by Rick Rubin who had worked with hard rock acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers and System of a Down, as well as idiosyncratic singers such as Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond. The band felt they had nothing to lose by a newer approach, and possibly quite a bit to gain. All 14 tracks were co-written by the three Chicks, alongside various other songwriters, including Neil Finn of Crowded House (who more recently became a member of Fleetwood Mac).
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Country Music Association Awards held on November 2, 2016, the Dixie Chicks were invited to perform alongside Beyoncé on her song "Daddy Lessons". A studio version of the performance was released to digital outlets the following day.
On May 3, 2018, the band landed new management and signed with Ian Montone and Rick Yorn at Monotone/LBI Entertainment, as previous manager Simon Renshaw announced his retirement after managing the band since 1995.Soon after, Natalie Maines began posting pictures on her Instagram account which hinted that the Dixie Chicks were back in the studio together. The posts continued throughout June 2018 and included Maines posting a picture of herself with Jack Antonoff, known for his work with Taylor Swift, in the studio using the hashtag #dcx2018.
Following their collaboration with Taylor Swift on her song "Soon You'll Get Better" from Swift's seventh studio album Lover, the Dixie Chicks confirmed that they would return to music with a new studio album after a 14-year hiatus. The album, titled Gaslighter, and produced by Jack Antonoff, was later confirmed with a scheduled release date of May 1, 2020.. The first single, "Gaslighter", and its accompanying music video was released on March 4, 2020.
Their power is undeniable, and the talent is unmeasurable, and we have been lucky to have them in our lifetime.
So today, with love held all around me, I choose the Dixie Chicks’ “Easy Silence” as my, love will hold you down, try to gather it around you, catch the stars that fall when you can, song for a break open the sky, let the walls come down, like a whisper that slips in under the bedroom door, Thursday.
