WikiPortallus: Dixie Chicks.html

The group 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 achieved massive country music and pop success, beginning in 1998 with hit songs like "Wide Open Spaces", "Cowboy Take Me Away", and "Long Time Gone". The women became well-known for their independent spirit and outspoken comments on controversial subjects, including politics.

Ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Natalie Maines said "We don't want this war, this violence; and, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas", (the Dixie Chicks' home State).² The statement offended people who supported an invasion and war in Iraq, and the ensuing controversy cost the group half of their concert audience attendance in the United States and led to charges of the three female bandmates being un-American, as well as hate mail and the destruction of their albums in protest.³

Original Dixie Chicks

First formation of the band

The Dixie Chicks were founded by bassist Laura Lynch, guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin in 1989. The Erwin sisters have since married and changed their names. Martie had a short-lived marriage from 1995-1999 during which she was known as Martie Seidel, though in 2001, she remarried and the sisters are now known as Martie Maguire and Emily Robison.⁴ The four took their band name from the song "Dixie Chicken" by Lowell George of Little Feat,⁵ originally playing predominantly bluegrass and a beguiling mix of country standards. All four women played and sang; however, Maguire and Robison provided most of the instrumental accompaniment for the band while Lynch and Macy shared lead vocals. Maguire primarily played fiddle, mandolin, and viola, while Robison's specialties included the five stringed banjo, and dobro.

In 1990, the Dixie Chicks paid $5,000 for a first independent studio album with the name,Thank Heavens for Dale Evans,⁶ named after the pioneering, multi-talented female performer Dale Evans. The album included two instrumental songs. In 1987, Maguire (still known then as Martha Erwin) had won second place, and in 1989, third place in the National fiddle championships held in Winfield, Kansas.⁷ A Christmas single was released at the end of the year - a 45 rpm vinyl recording named "Home on the Radar Range", with "Christmas Swing" on one side and the song on the flip side named "The Flip Side". The record titles were significant; during that period of time, the bandmates dressed up as "cowgirls", and publicity photos reflected this image. However, even with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry,⁸ with few exceptions, such as Garrison Keillor's radio show, on NPR; A Prairie Home Companion,⁹ they didn't get much national airplay.

Changing sound

A second independent album, Little Ol' Cowgirl, followed in 1992. Professional steel guitarist Lloyd Maines was one of the session musicians who played on both of these, and portions of the second album contained a more contemporary country sound as the women enlisted the help of sidemen to bring forth a richer sound. In doing so, they met Lloyd's daughter, Natalie, who was also an aspiring musician. However, not all of the band members were pleased in the direction that their music was taking. Robin Lynn Macy left in late 1992 for a "purer" bluegrass sound although she remained active in the Dallas music scene.¹⁰ With the gap left by Macy, Lloyd passed Natalie's audition demo tape, which had won her a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, to Maguire and Robison.¹¹ Her distinctive voice was a match for Maguire's soprano and Robison's alto harmonies. As Maguire and Robison considered their options and the major record labels waffled over whether they should take a risk on an all-women's band, a few reviewers took note of their talents:

Unaware that other possibilities were being considered by the Erwin sisters, Lynch, thrust into the role of sole lead singer on their third independent album, Shouldn't a Told You That in 1993, was unable to attract support from a major record label. The group remained unsuccessful in gaining a large fan base outside the Texas and Nashville areas. By 1995, Maguire and Robison replaced Lynch with singer-songwriter Natalie Maines, the daughter of former Chicks' session player Lloyd Maines.¹³ The change left the cowgirl dresses in the past, and left the band with a more contemporary look and a sound that was broader in appeal.¹⁴

Current Dixie Chicks

Success with a new vocalist

After Natalie Maines joined the band, the instrumental lineup was essentially the same, although instead of playing acoustic bass, Natalie played guitar in concert. She sang lead vocals, with Martie (Erwin) Siedel, and Emily both singing backing vocals. Robison was now contributing to the band's sound adding guitar, accordion, sitar and Tacoma papoose guitar to her mastery of the five string banjo and dobro, and Maguire began adding guitar, viola, and mandolin chops more frequently to her expert fiddle. The sisters welcomed the change; Maguire said, "It's very rootsy, but then Natalie comes in with a rock and blues influence. That gave Emily and I a chance to branch out, because we loved those kinds of music but felt limited by our instruments."¹⁵

Within the next year, Sony scouted the Chicks and signed them to the newly revived Monument Records label. A single "I Can Love You Better" was released in October 1997, and reached the Top 10 on American country music charts, while the new lineup recorded the rest of their debut album. Wide Open Spaces was released in January 23, 1998.¹⁶ Over the space of a year, the next three singles from Wide Open Spaces reached first place on the Country charts: "There's Your Trouble," "You Were Mine", and the title track, "Wide Open Spaces"; a song reflecting youthful yearning for independence, and possibilities yet undiscovered; and increasingly, the majority of fans became young women. Lines like these brought forth a yearning from their public:

This first album for the current band added a widespread audience to their original loyal following, entering the top five on both country and pop charts¹⁷ with initial sales of 12 million copies in the country music arena alone, taking the record for the best-selling duo or group album in country music history.¹⁴

In 1998, the Dixie Chicks sold more CDs than all other country music groups combined.¹⁸ Big Country music took note of the Chicks, awarding them the Horizon Award for new artists in 1998, which, according to CBS News, is "given to someone expected to have a long, successful career".¹⁹ By 1999, the album won the new line up their first Grammy Awards as well as acclaim from the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, and other high profile awards. As of 2008, Wide Open Spaces has gone on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it a diamond album.¹

Continued success and tours

The Dixie Chicks further proved themselves with another hit album, Fly on August 31, 1999 which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 charts selling over 10 million copies, and making the Dixie Chicks the only country group and the only female group of any genre to hold the distinction of having earned two rare repeat RIAA certified diamond albums, back-to-back.,¹⁶ Nine singles emerged from it, including country No. 1's "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Without You." Because of this success, the Dixie Chicks have albums that have continued to place in the list of the 50 best-selling albums in American history, over a half-decade after they were released.²⁰ Fly again won Grammy awards and honors from the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music, and a humbling amount of honors from a variety of other sources for their accomplishments.²¹ The band headlined their first tour, the Fly Tour, with guest artists including Joe Ely and Ricky Skaggs appearing at each show. ²² and additionally joined Sarah McLaughlin, Sheryl Crow, and other female artists on the all-woman touring Lilith Fair,²³

The source of Dixie Chicks' commercial success during this time came from various factors: they wrote or co-wrote about half of the songs on Wide Open Spaces and Fly; their mixture of bluegrass, mainstream country music, blues, and pop songs appealed to a wide spectrum of record buyers, and where the women had once dressed as "cowgirls" with Lynch, their dress was now more contemporary.¹⁴

"Cowboy Take Me Away," from Fly, became another signature song, written by Maguire to celebrate her sister's romance with country singer Charlie Robison, who Emily subsequently married, exchanging her surname for Robison. However there were a few songs that the Chicks also provided that brought controversy within their conservative country music fan base; and two songs caused some radio stations to remove the Chicks from their playlists: "Sin Wagon", from which the term "mattress dancing" takes on a new twist, and "Goodbye Earl," a song that uses black comedy in telling the story of the unabashed murder of an abusive husband. (The band later made a video portraying the nefarious deed, with actor Dennis Franz playing the murdered husband). In an interview, Maines commented about Sony worrying about the reference to "mattress dancing" on the song, "Sin Wagon", refusing to discuss it in interviews. She said, "Our manager jokes, 'You can't say mattress dancing, but they love the song about premeditated first degree murder'! She continues, "..So it's funny to us that "mattress dancing" is out and murder is in!"²⁴ Although there were some disagreements regarding such songs, the trio were consistently unapologetic.

Dispute with their record label

After the commercial success of their first two albums, the band became involved in a dispute with their record label, Sony, regarding accounting procedures, alleging that in at least 30 cases Sony had used fraudulent accounting practices, underpaying them at least $4 million dollars (£2.7m) in royalties on their albums over the previous three years.²⁵ Sony held out, and the trio walked away, with Sony suing the group for failure to complete their contract.²⁶ The Chicks responded with their own $4.1 million dollar lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment on August 27th,²⁷ which added clout to claims made by rockers Courtney Love and Aimee Mann as well as LeAnn Rimes against the recording industry.²⁸ After months of negotiation, the Chicks settled their suit privately, and were awarded their own record label imprint, "Open Wide Records", which afforded them more control, a better contract, and an increase in royalty money, with Sony still responsible for marketing and distribution of albums.²⁹¹⁸

Continued success with a "non-commercial" sound

During the time that they worked with Sony to reconcile their differences, the Dixie Chicks debuted their quiet, unadorned song "I Believe in Love" on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon following the September 11, 2001 attacks. The three women found themselves home, in Texas, each happily married, planning families, and writing songs closer to their roots, without the usual pressures of the studio technicians from the major labels. The songs they didn't write were solicited from songwriters who wrote with a less commercial emphasis.³¹ The result was that Home, independently produced by Lloyd Maines and the Chicks, was released August 27, 2002.¹⁶ Unlike the Chicks' two previous records, Home is dominated by up-tempo bluegrass and pensive ballads; and Emmylou Harris added her vocals to "Lullabye". In addition, the lyrics of the opening track and first single, "Long Time Gone," was a pointed criticism of contemporary country music radio, accusing it of ignoring the soul of the genre as exemplified by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams. "Long Time Gone" became the Chicks' first top ten hit on the U.S. pop singles chart and peaked at #2 on the country chart, becoming a major success. Over six million copies of Home were sold in the United States.³²

Home also won Grammy awards, and other noteworthy accolades as before, although it fell short of reaching the diamond record status of the first two albums. Natalie Maines said afterward, "I want to check the record books and see how many fathers and daughters have won Grammys together."³³

2002 televised appearances

By 2002, the Dixie Chicks were featured on two television specials: An Evening with the Dixie Chicks which was an acoustic concert primarily composed of the material from Home, and a CMT three hour television special, the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music. Ranked #13 out of 40, they were "selected by hundreds of artists, music historians, music journalists and music industry professionals -- looking at every aspect of what a great artist is.."³⁴

The top of the world

After obtaining their own label imprint, Home was released. The band embarked upon a tour that following the album, named after a song on the album, "Top of the World", composed by Patty Griffin, whose songs had become staple cover songs and favorites of the Chicks. It was a high point for the band, who proceeded to tape the tour and release both an album from it: Top of the World Tour: Live, and Top of the World Tour: Live on DVD, released in 2003.²⁹ The band played the Grand Ole Opry, with one of the songs rendered being a Fleetwood Mac song, "Landslide", which the Chicks later made into a video with the help of the song's composer, Stevie Nicks who later sang it with them in the VH1 concert Divas Live in Las Vegas, hosted by comedian Ellen Degeneres. Early 2003 brought another boost of exposure for the Chicks, as they performed the "Star Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl XXXVII.

Political controversy

The infamous remark

During the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, the Dixie Chicks performed in concert in London on March 10, 2003, at the Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre. During the introduction to their song "Travelin' Soldier", Natalie Maines, a Texas native, said:

Directly after Maines' statements on stage, Emily Robison added a qualifier that the band supported the American troops 100 percent.³⁶

The comment about United States President George W. Bush, who served as the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before his election to the Presidency, was reported in The Guardian's review of the Chicks concert.³⁷ There, the statement was quoted as simply "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."³⁷ Shortly thereafter, the U.S. media picked up the story and controversy erupted.³⁸

The backlash

Maines' remark sparked intense criticism; many Americans believed that she should not criticize George Bush on foreign shores. Maines insists, however, "I said it there 'cause that's where I was."³⁹

The comment angered many country music fans and was financially damaging. Following the uproar and the start of a boycott of Dixie Chicks' music, Maines attempted to clarify matters on March 12 by saying, "I feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world." ⁴⁰

The statement failed to quiet her critics, and Maines issued an apology on March 14: "As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American."⁴¹⁴²

While some people were disappointed that Maines apologized at all, others dropped their support of Dixie Chicks and their sponsor Lipton. In one famous anti-Dixie Chicks display, former fans were encouraged to bring their CDs to a demonstration at which they would be crushed by a bulldozer. At one point, 76% of former fans polled responded with, "If I could, I'd take my CDs back."⁴³ The degree of hatred directed toward the Chicks - including death threats⁴⁴ - provoked concern among the band about their safety and that of their families. Bruce Springsteen and Madonna both felt compelled to come out in support of the right of the band to express their opinions freely; however, Madonna herself postponed and then altered the April 1 release of her "American Life" video in which she threw a hand grenade toward a Bush look-alike, after witnessing the backlash against the Chicks.⁴⁵⁴⁶

A few significant exceptions existed to the list of Dixie Chicks opponents. One such musician from the realm of country music was country music veteran and strident Iraq war opponent Merle Haggard, who in the summer of 2003 released a song critical of US media coverage of the Iraq War. Haggard said the attack on the Chicks was a "witch-hunt and lynching." On July 25 2003, the Associated Press reported him saying:

Battling back

On April 24, Dixie Chicks launched a publicity campaign to explain their position. During a prime-time interview with TV personality Diane Sawyer, Maines said she remained proud of her original statement. The band also appeared naked (with private parts strategically covered) on the May 2 cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine, with slogans such as "Traitors," "Saddam's Angels," "Dixie Sluts", "Proud Americans," "Hero," "Free Speech", and "Brave" printed on their bodies. The slogans represented the labels (both positive and negative) that had been placed on them in the aftermath of Maines' statement.

President Bush responded to the controversy in an interview with Tom Brokaw on April 24:

Meanwhile, the Chicks were preparing for their nationwide Top of the World Tour; the death threats led them to install metal detectors at the shows.⁴⁸ At the first concert on the tour, the group received a positive reception. Held in Greenville, South Carolina on May 1, it was attended by a sell-out crowd of 15,000 (tickets for most of the shows had gone on sale before the controversy erupted⁴⁹). The women arrived prepared to face opposition — and Maines invited those who had come to boo to do so — but the crowd erupted mostly in cheers.

Nevertheless, a Colorado radio station suspended two of its disc jockeys on May 6 for playing music by the Dixie Chicks.⁵⁰ On May 22, at the Academy of Country Music awards ceremony in Las Vegas, there were boos when the group's nomination for Entertainer of the Year award was announced. However, the broadcast's host, Vince Gill, reminded the audience that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. The Academy gave the award to Toby Keith, an outspoken critic of the group who had received criticism for displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein⁵¹.

A few months after Maines' comment about Bush, the Chicks responded to their new sense of political injustice by performing and donating money at events designed to combat his leadership in the United States. They donated $10,000 to help build a section of the Rock the Vote website, wanting to increase the number of young women (the majority of their fans) registered to vote. Maines said, "We always felt like we were searching for ways to make an impact outside of music ... I believe everything that's happened in the last few months happened for a reason. A lot of positive things have come from it, and this is just one of them. We're very dedicated and motivated about this now."⁵²

In fall 2003, the Dixie Chicks starred in a television commercial for Lipton Original Iced Tea, which made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the corporate blacklisting and the grassroots backlash. In the ad, the Chicks are about to give a stadium concert when the electricity suddenly goes out; they continue anyway, performing an a cappella version of "Cowboy Take Me Away" to the raving cheers of the fans.

In a September 2003 interview, band member Martie Maguire told the German magazine Der Spiegel: "We don't feel a part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home anymore." She noted a lack of support from country stars, and being shunned at the 2003 ACM awards. "Instead, we won three Grammys against much stronger competition. So we now consider ourselves part of the big rock 'n' roll family." Some fans were dismayed, but the group made no clear response.⁵³

The same year, the American Red Cross refused a $1 million donation from the Dixie Chicks. The organization did not publicize the refusal; it was revealed by the Chicks themselves in a May 2006 interview on The Howard Stern Show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio.⁵⁴ According to National Red Cross spokesperson Julie Thurmond Whitmer, the band would have made the donation "only if the American Red Cross would embrace the band's summer tour," referring to the group's 2003 U.S. tour after the London incident.

This relationship with the Red Cross proved unfortunate, when little more than a year later, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita battered the Gulf Coast, with the group's home state of Texas directly in the wake of the disaster. Thus, in September 2005 Dixie Chicks debuted their song "I Hope" in the star-studded Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon. The Chicks subsequently made their new single available as a digital download single with proceeds to benefit hurricane relief.⁵⁶⁵⁷

In October 2004, Dixie Chicks joined the Vote for Change tour, performing in concerts organized by MoveOn.org in swing states.⁵⁸ While Dixie Chicks' artistic collaborations with James Taylor went well, sharing the stage on many occasions,⁵⁸ Maines's comments before and during the concerts revealed a certain amount of nervousness over the future career path of Dixie Chicks.⁴⁹⁵⁹

In 2005, Maguire, Robison and Maines joined with a host of 31 other recording artists, including Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, Yoko Ono, and Mandy Moore supporting relationships of all kinds, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity on a double disk release entitled, Love Rocks, with their song from the album Home called, "I Believe In Love".⁶⁰

Return

On March 16, 2006, the Dixie Chicks released the single "Not Ready to Make Nice" in advance of their upcoming album. Written by all three Chicks alongside Dan Wilson, it directly addressed the political controversy that had surrounded the group for the past three years:

and, in criticism of the death threats the women (particularly Maines) received, as well as a response to a protesting woman in their documentary telling her small child to say "screw 'em":

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 had to hold in so many stored emotions for so long. Thus, the group considered the album not so much a political one as very personal.⁶¹

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.⁶² All 14 tracks were co-written by the three Chicks, alongside various other songwriters, including Neil Finn on "Silent House".

The album contained several tracks that seemed to indirectly reference what the group called "The Incident", and the group remained defiant. Maguire commented that, "I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith. We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do."⁶³ Maines also retracted her earlier apology to President Bush, stating, "I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President, but I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."⁶³

Taking the Long Way debuted at number one on both the U.S. pop albums chart and the U.S. country albums chart, selling 526,000 copies in the first week (the year's second-best such total for any country act) and making it a gold record within its first week, despite having little or no airplay in areas that had once embraced them. The Chicks became the first female group in chart history to have three albums debut at #1.⁶⁴

Both "Not Ready to Make Nice" and second single "Everybody Knows" were largely ignored by U.S. country radio⁶⁵ and failed to penetrate the top 35 of the Hot_Country_Songs chart. In June 2006, Emily Robison noted the lack of support from other country music performers: "A lot of artists cashed in on being against what we said or what we stood for because that was promoting their career, which was a horrible thing to do. ... A lot of pandering started going on, and you'd see soldiers and the American flag in every video. It became a sickening display of ultra-patriotism."⁶⁵ Maines commented, "The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country ... I don't see why people care about patriotism."⁶⁵ In Europe, however, the two singles were well received by country radio, peaking at #13 and #11 respectively and remaining on the European Country Charts for more than 20 weeks each.⁶⁶

The group's Accidents & Accusations Tour began in July 2006. Ticket sales were strong in Canada and in some Northeastern markets, but notably weak in other areas. A number of shows were cancelled or relocated to smaller venues due to poor sales, and in Houston, Texas, tickets never even went on sale when local radio stations refused to accept advertising for the event.⁶⁷ In August, a re-routed tour schedule was announced with a greater emphasis on Canadian dates, where Taking the Long Way had gone five-times-platinum. The tour's shows themselves generally refrained from any explicit verbal political comments, letting the music, especially the central performance of "Not Ready to Make Nice" (which typically received a thunderous ovation during and after the song), speak for itself. As part of the tour, the Dixie Chicks became the first major band to hire a designated blogger "all-access" to keep up with them in their promotional activities and tour.⁶⁸ When the Chicks performed again at Shepherds Bush Empire, site of "The Incident", Maines joked that she wanted to say something the audience hadn't heard before, but instead said, "Just so y'all know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," to much laughter and applause.⁶⁹

In 2006, Taking the Long Way was the ninth best-selling album in the United States. At the 49th Grammy Awards Show on February 11, 2007, the group won all five categories for which they were nominated, including the top awards of Song of the Year and Record of the Year, both for "Not Ready to Make Nice", and Album of the Year, for Taking the Long Way. Maines interpreted the wins as being a show of public support for their advocacy of free speech.⁷⁰ It had been 14 years since an artist had swept those three awards.⁷¹ After the Grammys, Taking the Long Way hit #8 on Billboard 200 and #1 on the country album charts and the "Not Ready to Make Nice" re-entered the charts at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for "Not Ready to Make Nice" was nominated for the 2007 CMT Music Video Awards in the categories of Video of the Year and Group Video of the Year", but did not win.⁷² The group was nominated for the 2007 Country Music Association's award for Top Vocal Group, but lost to Rascal Flatts.⁷³ .

Shut Up and Sing

At the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, Cabin Creek Films, the production company of award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple, premiered Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing. The documentary – whose title is taken from a line in "Not Ready to Make Nice" – follows the Chicks over the three years since the 2003 London concert remark and covers aspects of their musical and personal lives in addition to the controversy.⁷⁴

An ad for Shut Up and Sing was turned down by NBC on October 27, 2006, citing a policy barring ads dealing with "public controversy". Ads were rebuffed by the smaller CW network as well, but local affiliate stations of all five major broadcasters, including NBC and CW, ran promotional spots for the film in New York and Los Angeles, the two cities where it opened that day.⁷⁵ The film's distributor Harvey Weinstein said, "It's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America."⁷⁵

In September 2007, Maines appeared in the documentary Pete Seeger: Power of Song, wherein she said that Seeger was "a living testament to the First Amendment."⁷⁶

In a December 2007 rally in Little Rock, Arkansas, Maines expressed support for the West Memphis Three, three men convicted of a 1993 triple murder who many believe to be innocent.⁷⁷ Maines cited a recent defense filing implicating Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims.⁷⁷ In November 2008, Hobbs sued Maines and the Dixie Chicks for defamation as a result of her statements.⁷⁸

A proposed April 2008 commercial spot to promote Al Gore's "We Campaign" involving both the Dixie Chicks and their Toby Keith was eventually abandoned due to scheduling conflicts.⁷⁹ Keith indicated that his own outspoken political statements from the opposite side of the spectrum had isolated him from the country establishment almost as much as the Chicks' statements had them.⁷⁹

Discography

Albums

Top-ten singles

Awards

American Music Awards

Billboard Music Awards

Country Music Association Awards

Country Music Association Flameworthy Awards

Grammy Awards

Juno Awards

MTV's Rock the Vote

People's Choice Awards

Other Awards

Tours

As an opening act

Benefits

Festivals

Headlining tours

Notes

^ ^a ^b RIAA Official Assessment Site Retrieved 9 May, 2008
^ [Film:Shut up and Sing]
^ "Dixie Chicks ‘Shut Up and Sing’ in Toronto". MSNBC. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
^ Front Page publicity Dixie Chicks
^ Tarnow, Noah Dixie Chicks Rolling Stone Magazine; 12/01/98 Issue 801, pg.37
^ ^a ^b Brooks, Robert (Retrieved 25 March, 2008) The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Timeline
^ Walnut Valley Association 1987 and 1989 National fiddle championships in archive Retrieved 2 March, 2008
^ Dixie Chicks Fans Net
^ Clark, Renee Can the Dixie Chicks make it in the big time? Local Heroes (Transcribed from) Dallas Life Magazine, Dallas Morning News, March 1, 1992 Retrieved 23 March, 2008
^ "8 Note Online" Retrieved 10 February 2008Dixie Chicks Biography
^ Redbook (Retrieved 23 March, 2008)Dishing With The Dixie Chicks 3/01/2002
^ Brace, Eric Dated March 30, 1992 The Washington Post (Retrieved 28 March, 2008)
^ Dickerson, James L. (2000) Dixie Chicks: Down-Home and Backstage. Taylor Trade Publishing, Dallas, Texas. ISBN 0-87833-189-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ankeny, Jason Dixie Chicks Biography
^ Malkin, Nina (Retrieved 31 December 2007)[1]
^ ^a ^b ^c Official Band WebsiteOffical Dixie Chicks Site
^ Smith, Chris The Vancouver Sun "100 Albums You Need To Own"
^ ^a ^b Elle Magazine.com Dixie Chicks Biography (Retrieved 30, May, 2008)
^ Dixie Chicks Riding High
^ Willman, Chris Rednecks & Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music By Chris Willman, 2005 pg. 21-23 ISBN 1595580174
^ Retrieved 3 February, 2008Couples Shine At Country Awards
^ [2] Dixie Chicks Official site
^ Willman, Chris, July 27, 1999 Fair Ladies The feisty trio tell EW Online they're no overnight sensationRetrieved 8 July, 2008
^ Willman, Chris 23 September, 1999Girls' Power The triple CMA winners tell EW Online about mattress dancing and other fun facts of life
^ BBC News Wednesday, 29 August, 2001Dixie Chicks sue Sony for $4m Retrieved 26, June 2008
^ (Retrieved 13 June, 2008) Sony sues Dixie Chicks for Breach of Contract
^ Rolling Stone Magazine, Dixie Chicks Sue Sony; Band says label owes them millions in royalties Posted Aug 28, 2001 [3] Retrieved 30 June, 2008
^ The Boston Globe October 7, 2001
^ ^a ^b Leggett, Steve All-Music Guide writer on MSN (Retrieved 9 March, 2008)
^ Flippo, Chet (May 25, 2006) [4] CMT News Nashville Skyline: Dixie Chicks, Dixie Chicks, Dixie Chicks
^ Hermes, Will Retrieved 20 April, 2008 NPR Music All Things Considered
^ [5]
^ Dixie Chicks website
^ Retrieved 13 June, 2008 CMT's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music
^ Democracy Now! (2007). "Shut Up And Sing: Dixie Chicks' Big Grammy Win Caps Comeback From Backlash Over Anti-War Stance" Democracy Now! (accessed February 24, 2007)
^ Sarah Quelland (2003). "Whistlin' Dixie" Metroactive Music (accessed February 24, 2007)
^ ^a ^b Clarke, Betty (2003). "The Dixie Chicks" Guardian Unlimited (accessed January 22, 2007)
^ Campbell, Duncan (2003). "'Dixie sluts' fight on with naked defiance" Guardian Unlimited (accessed April 13, 2006)
^ Chicks In the Line of Fire - Printout - TIME
^ (Retrieved 17 June, 2008)Upset About Bush Remark, Radio Stations Dump Dixie Chicks - Entertainment News Story - WCVB Boston
^ Dixies dropped over Bush remark, BBC News, March 20, 2003 (Accessed: October 30, 2006)
^ "Dixie Chicks singer apologizes for Bush comment" CNN, March 14, 2003 (Accessed: April 09, 2007)
^ http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/14/dixie.chicks.apology/
^ Interview with a Dixie Chick: "Let them Hate Us" - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
^ Havrilesky, Heather (Retrieved 16 June, 2008) The Madonna video you can't see on MTV
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