# Country Music... Thank God! - The Dixie Chicks



## Guest (Sep 1, 2018)

Rhythm and Blues may be the soul of rock n' roll but country? - Country is the heart...

"Country Music... Thank God!" is a series about those classic falling in and out of love heart-breaking heart-aching tunes telling real stories about real people played over the airwaves on country music radio stations the world over and the artists who created them...

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The Dixie Chicks are an American country music group composed of Natalie Maines, along with Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, who are sisters. Their discography comprises seven studio albums, two live albums and 25 singles.

Of the Dixie Chicks' 25 singles, *six have reached Number One on the Billboard country singles chart:* "There's Your Trouble", "Wide Open Spaces", "You Were Mine", "Cowboy Take Me Away", "Without You", and "Travelin' Soldier". A seventh, a version of the Fleetwood Mac song "Landslide", was also a Number One hit on the Adult Contemporary chart. Several of their singles have crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, with their highest-peaking there being the number 4, "Not Ready to Make Nice".

By December 2015, with 30.5 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 contrasting with the 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 April 24, 2003, the 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 ****s", "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.

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

"_The Dixie Chicks are free to speak their mind. They can say what they want to say ... they shouldn't have their feelings hurt just because some people don't want to buy their records when they speak out ... Freedom is a two-way street ... I don't really care what the Dixie Chicks said. I want to do what I think is right for the American people, and if some singers or Hollywood stars feel like speaking out, that's fine. That's the great thing about America_".

A few months after Maines's comment about Bush, the Dixie Chicks performed and donated $10,000 for Rock the Vote, a website designed to encourage young adults to register 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_."

In a September 2003 interview, 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.

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 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._" 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._"

Both "Not Ready to Make Nice" and second single "Everybody Knows" were largely ignored by U.S. country radio 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._"

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._" In Europe, however, the two singles were well received by country radio, peaking at Nos. 13 and 11 respectively and remaining on the European Country Charts for more than 20 weeks each.

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.

It had been 14 years since an artist had swept those three awards. After the Grammys, "Taking the Long Way" hit No. 8 on Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the country album charts and "Not Ready to Make Nice" re-entered the charts at No. 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. The group was nominated for the 2007 Country Music Association's award for Top Vocal Group, but lost to Rascal Flatts.

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 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.

Following "Shut Up and Sing", the band went on hiatus and spent time with their families until touring again in 2010 and 2013.

In late June 2018, Natalie Maines began posting pictures on her instagram account which hinted that the Dixie Chicks were back in the studio together.

Peak position on the Billboard Hot Country charts is in parentheses...

"*I Can Love You Better*" - 1997 - (# 7) -






"*There's Your Trouble*" - 1998 - (# 1) -






"*Wide Open Spaces*" - 1998 - (# 1) -






"*You Were Mine*" - 1999 - (# 1) -






"*Tonight the Heartache's on Me*" - 1999 - (# 6) -






"*Ready To Run*" - 1999 - (# 2) -






"*Cowboy Take Me Away*" - (# 1) -






"*Goodbye Earl*" - 2000 - (# 13) -






"*Cold Day In July*" - 2000 - (# 10) -






"*Without You*" - 2000 - (# 1) -






"I*f I Fall You're Going Down with Me*" - 2001 - (# 3) -






"*Some Days You Gotta Dance*" - 2001 - (# 7) -






"*Long Time Gone*" - 2002 - (# 2) -






"*Landslide*" - 2002 - (# 2) -






"*Travelin' Soldier*" - 2002 - (# 1) -


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Would love to see them in the flesh


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