The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks) Biography

The country music group known as the Dixie Chicks began with sisters Emily and Martie Erwin, who began performing togeether around Dallas, Texas, in the 1980’s. The group came together as the famous trio known today when Natalie Maines joined them a few years later. Prior to Maines, the Dixie Chicks had released a few albums as a duo, including Thank Heavens for Dale Evans (1990), Little Ol’ Cowgirl (1992), and Shouldn’t a Told You That (1993), but none of the albums brought them the recognition they sought until Natalie joined the group and the Dixie Chicks became the trio that we know them to be today.

It was the album Wide Open Spaces, released in 1997, that became the debut album for the Dixie Chicks as they are today. It was an immediate smash hit, selling twelve million copies. The title track earned the Dixie Chicks a CMA award additional singles, notably "There's Your Trouble," "I Can Love You Better," and "You Were Mine," were equally successful. Additional albums followed: including Fly (1999) and Home (2002), featuring the hit singles  "Ready to Run," "Cowboy Take Me Away,” "Without You,” "Long Time Gone," "Landslide" and "Travelin' Soldier." The Dixie Chicks racked up more CMA Awards, including Vocal Group of the Year, Album of the Year, and Entertainer of the Year Awards, and also Grammies for Best Country Album.

The group’s turning point, however, came in 2003 when, during a performance, Natalie Maines expressed her political dissatisfaction with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Announcing that she was “ashamed the president of the United States if from Texas,” she set off a firestorm of anti-Dixie Chicks, pro-patriotic sentiment which followed the group for the coming decade. Support from the artistic community and loyal fans was counter-balanced with vocal and commercial opposition from more conservative radio stations and television stations, and the Dixie Chicks found their music disappearing from the charts.

The Dixie Chicks retorted in 2006 with the album, Taking the Long Way and the hit single “Not Ready to Make Nice.” Confronting the situation head-on, the Dixie Chicks found their loyal fan base in solid support of their freedom of speech, and the artistic community echoed their sentiments. The single debuted at number one and went gold within its first week, despite the lack of airplay, and in the year following the Dixie Chicks earned five Grammies, including Album, Record, and Song of the Year awards. The documentary film Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing was equally successful when it was released in 2006, and by the end of the decade the Dixie Chicks had earned a total of thirteen Grammies.

Today, the Dixie Chicks continue to perform and record. The group recently wrapped their DCX MMXVI World Tour, followed by the release of the live album, DCX MMXVI Live (2017.) Thus far in their career, the Dixie Chicks have sold more than thirty million albums and are considered one of the best-selling female bands of all time.