Bio ÷ News ÷ Art ÷ Discography ÷ Career
Overview ÷ Press ÷ Track
X Track ÷ Label
Copy
Notes & Quotes ÷ Personal
Facts ÷ Charity ÷ Interview ÷ Videos ÷ Home
|
The Dixie Chicks are the biggest-selling female group in history, having sold more than 30 million CDs. They have won seven Grammy Awards and more than four dozen other major awards since 1998. Each of their three albums has won the Grammy for Best Country Album of the Year. Their first album, “Wide Open Spaces,” is the highest-selling album in history by a country music group and is among the top-100 selling albums of all time. "It’s about the music, not just about who looks cute on CMT. I’m so proud of what they’ve done. Maybe it’s a slap in the face of the Nashville hierarchy, but it certainly has made a statement: We’re in it for the music first and foremost, and when it starts messing with the music, we’re going to rebel." –Ricky Skaggs, in 2002 after opening for the Chicks on their “Fly” tour. “Maverick defiance has always been the best part of the Dixie Chicks' appeal, along with the determination to hold onto something down-home as they reach for a mass audience.” —New York Times, Jon Pareles In March 2003, at a London concert, Natalie Maines comments on the war, telling the audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Ironically, the same week that controversy starts to brew over the comment in the U.S. and the group is falsely accused of not supporting the troops, they have the No. 1 country single in America with “Traveling Soldier,” a song of empathy toward soldiers and their families. “Against the ongoing blanding out of America, a massive country star actually had the guts, for a moment, to say exactly what she thinks. … Maines' comment stands as the boldest thing anyone in the entertainment industry has said since the war flap began….. For a moment she was the bravest American entertainer.” --Salon, March 2003, Stephanie Zacharek “The Associated Press picked up the line; country music stations fanned the flames; and within a few weeks the Dixie Chicks' newest record, ‘Home,’ which
had been No. 1 on both the country and pop charts, was being boycotted
across the country. This is silly but not unpredictable. What followed
was disgusting: CD-crushing radio promo events, vandalism of Chick Emily
Robison's home, threats on the Chicks' lives, and a campaign of hatred
directed at three of the most talented women in the music industry. Bruce
Springsteen occasionally gets flack for his political remarks, but he doesn't
get called a slut.” "To me, they're terrific American artists expressing American values by using their American right to free speech… For
them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio
networks, for speaking out is un-American." “She's an American. She has a right to say whatever she wants,’ said Faith Hill. Added Shania Twain: ‘We [all] don't always agree, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't remain united.’”—People, April 2003 “So, instead of being a rollicking good band, the Dixie Chicks will become a rollicking good band with brains and a social conscience… Because
as offhand and impetuous as Maines' comment was, it pointed something out:
that the Dixie Chicks do more than sing and play; they think. And that
is what will raise them from the stature of entertainers to that of artists.” “An ‘Us Weekly’ survey reveals that 68% of respondents like the Dixie Chicks more after the controversy. The group had a serious conversation with ABC's host Diane Sawyer on April 24, 2003.” --Us Weekly, May 2003 “Chick, chick, hooray! Just so you know, the Dixie Chicks make me proud to be a lesbian. They are an Axis of Excellent Straight Women. Fending off a hard-charging, devil's-advocating Diane Sawyer on a recent Primetime Thursday, the Chicks stood their ground.”--The Advocate, June 2003 “’Home’ remains a top seller, and its ‘Top of the World Tour,’ which reaches Sacramento's Arco Arena tonight, has played to sold-out venues. The reason is simple: Even those who don't agree with the Chicks' political views can't deny their musical chops….Despite the glitz, the Chicks' version of country isn't some rhinestone artifact frozen in time; it's a living, breathing tradition that doesn't shy away from politics, technology or any other modern pitfall. The confetti that blanketed the audience during the closing hoedown of ‘Sin Wagon’ signaled
a celebration -- not just of the Chicks' endurance and talent but also
of the joy that comes from playing and hearing music that just makes a
body glad to be alive.” “I attended the concert in Anaheim and saw three talented, smart and incredibly brave women put on an amazing show. They have already smashed a number of stereotypes and redefined the role women play in the world of country music. Until Natalie Maines made the anti-Bush remark heard 'round the world, I thought the Dixie Chicks were just three cute girls who sang well and played their own instruments. I now know differently. Their willingness to stand together and speak out in the face of adversity is an inspiration.”—Los Angeles Times, July 2003, letter to the editor “The Dixie Chicks have been able to exercise free speech happily all the way to the bank. They've posed nude for the cover of ‘Entertainment Weekly’ with ‘Saddam's Angels’ emblazoned on their flesh. Their album ‘Home’ rebounded from its brief dip, returning to No. 1 on the country chart for weeks. Their tour has sold out from its first stop, that left-wing stronghold Greenville, S.C. The Dixie Chicks may be bigger than ever.”—New York Times, July 2003, Frank Rich The 2003 “Top of the World” tour set a record for the highest one-day sales in Ticketmaster history, and the tour ended not only as the top country tour of the year, but also as the best country one-year gross ever, taking in $62 million. “Watching ‘[VH1 News Presents:] Soundtrack to War,’ you might be surprised by how many American soldiers in Iraq are packing Gibsons and Fenders along with their firearms…There's one unidentified soldier's aggressively patriotic decision to name his tank ‘Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue’ after the Toby Keith song: ‘That's what I'm about,’ he says proudly, ‘the United States of America.’ And the quieter, yet no less firm, conviction present in the voice of Spc. Heather Haskins, who sings ‘Traveling Soldier’ by the Dixie Chicks, then defends the group for speaking their minds about Iraq. ‘I'm proud of the fact that they got to say what they got to say because of where we come from,’ Haskins
says, squinting in the desert sun.” In 2003, the Dixie Chicks were honored by People for the American Way with the Defenders of Democracy Award. “The Dixie Chicks are one of the hottest acts going, but one of their lasting contributions to the music industry may well be contained in a record of a different sort: the Congressional Record. At Senate hearings July 8, Cumulus Media--which owns some 270 radio stations--was the latest to be caught up in the backlash over the power that large radio conglomerates hold to curb free speech and to punish those with whom it disagrees politically. In a riveting exchange, Senate Commerce Committee chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., compelled Cumulus chairman/chief executive Lewis W. Dickey to acknowledge that the chain by corporate fiat had ordered the Dixie Chicks off the air at all 50 of its country stations. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said the decision by Cumulus and Cox Radio to ban the Dixie Chicks was similar to the blacklisting of Hollywood artists during the McCarthy era in the 1950s and the burning of books in 1930s-era Germany. By her outspokenness, Maines focused public scrutiny on a dirty little business. For that she should be commended.” --Billboard, July 2003 “[The Dixie Chicks] blew open the door for a remarkable number of closeted Music Row Democrats. The blackballing of the Dixie Chicks was a prime motivation in the founding of the left-leaning political action committee [Music Row Democrats], says co-founder Bob Titley, a prominent talent manager (Brooks and Dunn, Kathy Mattea) and a confirmed Democrat. ‘There was a failure in our community to step up to their defense,’ he says. The Music Row Democrats now claim more than 1,300 members, including key Nashville executives, songwriters and artists such as Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell. ‘The organization grew spectacularly fast,’ says country music historian Robert K. Oermann, a founding member. ‘People were hiding in corners, afraid to come out. Now the community is more mobilized.’”--Rolling Stone In 2004, the Dixie Chicks funded a Web site through Rock the Vote called “Chicks Rock, Chicks Vote” with the goal of registering 100,000 voters via their site. Within a month of its existence, the number of people registered was around 150,000. That same year, they toured with the “Vote for Change Tour” through swing voter states, headlining with James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam and REM. In 2004, Martie had twin girls and Natalie had a second son; in 2005, Emily had twins. The Chicks now have seven chicklets. “Nashville Pines for Dixie Chicks. Country stations eagerly await new music from formerly banned trio: As the political tides turn -- not just in Nashville but nationally -- the Chicks are preparing to release their long-awaited follow-up to 2002's ‘Home,’ an as-yet untitled album recorded with renegade producer Rick Rubin.” -- Rolling Stone, 2006 From an economic perspective, it's tough to argue with an act that has sold more than 28 million copies of its first three major-label studio albums, according to SoundScan. ‘We need them,’ says Clay Hunnicutt, Clear Channel's vice president of country programming nationwide. ‘Radio is always looking for great artists with great music, great hits.’ ‘It doesn't matter to me which side of the political spectrum pulls for them,’ says Brian Phillips, executive vice president and general manager of country music network CMT. ‘The Dixie Chicks captivated the limelight to the extent that it caused a lot of conversation.’ And he says that's good for business: ‘We're not looking for wallpaper.’”—Rolling Stone, January 2006 “Thanks to collaborations with members of the Jayhawks, the Heartbreakers, Chili Peppers, and omni-producer Rick Rubin, the Chicks just made...a rock album. ‘It sounds more like '70s Eagles than System of a Down,’ reassures banjo slinger Emily Robison. Co-writing all the songs allowed the trio to talk about what they're calling the incident (their 2003 adventures in patriotism inspired ‘Not Ready to Make Nice’), and breaking up with country radio (‘Lubbock or Leave It’) let them experiment. ‘We feel free,’ says frontgal Natalie Maines. ‘We go into this thinking, No one's going to play it-and it's fine. We made it for people who want to hear it.’” The Chicks, bless’em, don’t just carry a macrochip on their shoulders. There’s instrumental virtuosity and a songwriting range that spans regions and decades. One country and one form of music aren’t enough to contain them or stifle their passion. They’ll sing but they won’t shut up. That seems downright American. |
