The Chicks

At the turn of the millennium the Chicks stood as the leading country act of their time, reshaping the genre’s sonic character and cultural outlook through the multi-platinum releases Wide Open Spaces, Fly, and Home. Although the band’s earliest lineup, built around Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire, had been a western ensemble performing numbers by Texan troubadours, the addition of Natalie Maines in 1995 altered its course. Maines introduced a flinty independence and an unconventional pop-rock approach that surfaced on the 1998 album Wide Open Spaces yet reached full expression on its 1999 follow-up, Fly. That record edged into the pop mainstream as the revenge anthem “Goodbye Earl” reached Billboard’s Top 20 and the project earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Home confirmed the achievement was no accident: the 2002 set delivered two Top Ten pop singles in “Long Time Gone” and “Landslide” while remaining a strong presence on country radio.

The crossover momentum proved short-lived. Weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Maines informed a London crowd that the group felt “ashamed” of fellow Texan President George W. Bush. Country radio swiftly dropped the Chicks, and the industry establishment turned away. The trio responded with Taking the Long Way, a 2006 album that collected five Grammys, including Album of the Year, yet afterward entered a lengthy hiatus. When they resurfaced in 2020 with Gaslighter, a project that leaned fully into pop, they were celebrated as the most influential country band of their generation and acknowledged as an inspiration by numerous younger artists.

Raised in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas, sisters Martie and Emily Erwin displayed early skill on stringed instruments, Martie on fiddle and Emily on five-string banjo. After high school they joined bassist Laura Lynch and guitarist Robin Lynn Macy to create the Chicks, first known as the Dixie Chicks in tribute to Little Feat’s 1973 song “Dixie Chicken.” The quartet cultivated a classic cowgirl persona, donning rhinestone-studded outfits and blending traditional country, folk, and bluegrass; their independent 1990 debut, Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, even saluted Roy Rogers’ cowgirl partner and wife. Over the decade the band’s look and sound grew more modern, often straddling country and pop.

The shift toward contemporary production began with the transitional 1992 album Little Ol’ Cowgirl, whose new direction, aided by sidemen including steel-guitar veteran Lloyd Maines, prompted Macy’s exit. Lynch assumed lead vocals for the 1993 release Shouldn’t a Told You That. In 1995 the group signed with Sony’s revived Monument imprint, but Lynch soon departed; a December 10, 1998 Dallas Observer profile noted that both she and Macy had been casualties of the Erwin sisters’ wish for a younger image. Twenty-one-year-old Natalie Maines, Lloyd Maines’ daughter, stepped in as lead vocalist.

The personnel change brought updated stage attire and a refreshed country sound, yet few foresaw the blockbuster impact of the 1998 major-label debut Wide Open Spaces. After the opening single “I Can Love You Better” became the group’s first Top Ten country hit, “There’s Your Trouble” and the title track both topped the Hot Country Songs chart. Within a year Wide Open Spaces reached quadruple platinum and later stood as the best-selling group album in country-music history, collecting numerous Grammy and CMA honors. Fly arrived in 1999 and quickly returned the Chicks to the top of the country charts with lead single “Ready to Run.” Another major hit, “Goodbye Earl,” recounted an abusive husband killed by his wife’s vengeance. Although its lyrics drew on black comedy, “Goodbye Earl,” along with “Sin Wagon” and its reference to Maines’ wish to “do a little mattress dancing,” showed the band’s willingness to stray from the conservative expectations of their audience—an attitude that initially aided their rise but later fueled controversy surrounding Maines’ comments about President Bush.

Now established superstars, the Chicks appeared alongside Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Cher, and Celine Dion on VH1’s Divas Show in 2002. Three months afterward they issued their sixth album, which abandoned the glossy production of prior work for a nostalgic, bluegrass-rooted approach. Home marked the first release on their own Sony subsidiary, Open Wide Records, and supplied their first two Top Ten pop hits with “Long Time Gone” and “Landslide,” the latter a striking interpretation of the Fleetwood Mac original. Top of the World Tour: Live and its DVD followed in 2003, documenting the trio’s live power.

The tour also signaled a turning point. On opening night in London, Maines voiced opposition to the Iraq War, declaring the members ashamed to share their home state with President Bush. Many American fans reacted angrily, and country radio boycotted the latest album. Released in 2006, Taking the Long Way addressed the backlash—death threats, protests, and a frosty reception at the 2003 ACM Awards—through songs such as “Not Ready to Make Nice,” which captured three Grammy Awards and helped restore commercial momentum. The album earned two further Grammys, while “Not Ready to Make Nice” achieved the group’s highest pop-chart placement to date. Taking the Long Way sold only two million copies in the United States, a modest figure compared with the three preceding albums, and the Chicks withdrew from public view after the 2007 Grammy Awards.

For several years the group remained quiet. Sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire formed the Court Yard Hounds and prepared an album and tour. In March 2010 the Chicks announced summer dates with the Eagles and Keith Urban, leading the Court Yard Hounds to cancel their own plans. At the close of the 2006 promotional cycle for Taking the Long Way, the Chicks taped an intimate performance at the Los Angeles Theatre for VH1’s Storytellers series; the set finally surfaced on DVD and Blu-ray in 2011, underscoring their live prowess.

The Chicks resumed activity in 2013 with The Long Time Gone Tour, which extended into 2014. In 2015 they launched the DCX MMXVI tour, prolonged through 2016, and issued the concert album DCX MMXVI in September 2017. March 2020 brought the single “Gaslighter,” the lead track from the album of the same name released that July. Before its arrival the band dropped the original name Dixie Chicks in favor of the Chicks, a decision prompted by the summer 2020 Civil Rights protests.