Whatever Happened to the Dixie Chicks?

With the country held in limbo wondering who will take over the presidency from George Bush, it’s interesting to look around and see how things have changed. We are a country that is now used to war again. A great deal of us still don’t like it, but it is a reality we all are facing.

People aren’t afraid to speak their minds and hundreds — thousands is probably more accurate — of people have expressed their dislike for Bush and the war in Iraq. The controversy between the right and left has receded slightly, with many conservatives holding the same view of Bush as the liberals. Thinking of this fact brings to mind a time when it was believed there were only two views an American could have: you either supported Bush and the war, or you didn’t and you were looked upon as a traitor.

In 2003, these views were laid down when Natalie Maines, lead singer of the popular country group, The Dixie Chicks, stated at a London concert, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.

While the comment was meant in good fun and got a great deal of applause, the news picked up the comment and it quickly made its way to the United States.
The country was still in shock from the attacks on 9/11. The United States had become a different country — a country that had been violated on their own soil. The statement by Maines, joke or not, was more or less a slap in the face. Thus began the descent of the once top selling female band of all time.

After that, Dixie Chicks began receiving attention and not the good kind. While they continued their European tour, fans of the group turned on them, calling in to radio stations and requesting they not play their music. Their number one single “Travelin’ Soldier” dropped like a stone and the singers could only watch in horror as their fans rejected them. Groups of people would organize and destroy their CDs and people would put out trash cans for people to publicly dispose of them.

Despite two apologies from Maines, the American people didn’t see them as genuine. Natalie had already commented that it was just a funny statement. No one was amused. Radio stations had no choice but to cease playing the Chicks’ music. It would be financial suicide to do otherwise. For three years, the band was virtually ignored — save for persistent death threats — by the fans that had made them famous.

The band reappeared in 2006 with the release of their album “Taking the Long Way.” Though the public fury had calmed quite a bit, Natalie Maines’ disdain proved people right when they believed her apologies in 2003 weren’t sincere. She said in a Times interview,

“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.”

The Dixie Chicks were once more in the spotlight with the release of this new album and its controversial single, “Not Ready to Make Nice.” The song is about the band’s experience after the comment was made and as a country radio programmer puts it, “a four-minute f___-you to the format and our listeners.

The Chicks responded to their enemies with a nude picture on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, wearing only the insults and slurs that had been thrown at them in the past. Naturally, this didn’t help the situation. But their album, more pop than country, was the ninth best-selling album in the country. The biggest surprise came when the Chicks won the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Album, Best Country Best Record and Best Song (“Not Ready to Make Nice.” The album then rose to number 8 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the country album charts. “Not Ready to Make Nice” returned to the charts at number 4 on the Hot 100.

The last that was seen of the Dixie chicks was in their documentary “Shut Up and Sing.” A video documenting the band from the time of “the Incident” to the present, it gave fans and enemies a chance to see what was really going on behind the scenes and how the women were feeling during the whole ordeal.

The movie did fairly well and there hasn’t been nearly any controversy over it. However, the damage is already done. Shows have been canceled, the only news surfacing on the band is that Marty has had a baby and Emily has gotten divorced. No new albums, no new tours.

According to Natalie, the band will never return to country music. Even though dialogue about the Iraq war and public dissent about Bush has become more accepted, it doesn’t matter. For the Dixie Chicks, it is doubtful that they will ever be able to fully regain the fan base that they once had. Honestly, I’m not sure they care.

Andrea Sachs, Chicks in the Line of Fire, Time Magazine