The Chicks

The Chicks
The Chicks
	The Chicks in 2006. Left to right: Emily Strayer, Natalie Maines, and Martie Maguire
Background information
Also known as	Dixie Chicks
Origin	Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Country; bluegrass; country pop;
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Crystal Clear Sound; Monument Nashville; Columbia Nashville;
Spinoffs	Court Yard Hounds
Members	Emily Strayer; Martie Maguire; Natalie Maines;
Past members	Robin Lynn Macy; Laura Lynch;
Website	thechicks.com

The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Strayer (vocals, guitar, banjo, Dobro).

Martie and Emily, both née Erwin, founded the Dixie Chicks in 1989 with the bassist Laura Lynch and the singer and guitarist Robin Lynn Macy. They performed bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years. In 1992, Lynch replaced Macy. After independently releasing three albums, in 1995, the Dixie Chicks were signed by Monument Records Nashville and Maines replaced Lynch. They released their first album with Monument, Wide Open Spaces, in 1998, followed by Fly in 1999. Both albums were certified diamond.

In 2003, shortly before the invasion of Iraq, the Dixie Chicks publicly criticized the US president George W. Bush, triggering a backlash and damaging sales of their 2002 album Home. They released Taking the Long Way in 2004 and entered hiatus in 2008; Martie and Emily recorded as a duo, Court Yard Hounds. The Dixie Chicks reunited in 2016 for a series of tours. In 2020, they removed "Dixie" from their name due to negative connotations, and released their first album in 14 years, Gaslighter.

The Chicks have charted 22 times on the American Billboard Hot Country Songs charts; "There's Your Trouble", "Wide Open Spaces", "You Were Mine", "Cowboy Take Me Away", "Without You", and "Travelin' Soldier" all reached number one. The Chicks have received 13 Grammy Awards, ten Country Music Association awards and eight Academy of Country Music awards. By July 2020, with 33 million certified albums sold^[2] and sales of 27.9 million albums in the US, the Chicks had become the best-selling all-woman band and best-selling country group since Nielsen SoundScan began recording sales in 1991.^[3]^[4]^[5]

^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference allmusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Gold & Platinum – Top Selling Artists". RIAA. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.
^ "Natalie Maines Announces 'Mother' Solo Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
^ "Chart Moves: Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines Makes Solo Debut, She & Him Bows on Cassette". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
^ Newman, Melinda. "How The Music Industry Finally Caught Up to The Chicks". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.

[allmusic-1] Cite error: The named reference allmusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[RIAA1-2] "Gold & Platinum – Top Selling Artists". RIAA. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2010.

[3] "Natalie Maines Announces 'Mother' Solo Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.

[4] "Chart Moves: Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines Makes Solo Debut, She & Him Bows on Cassette". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.

[5] Newman, Melinda. "How The Music Industry Finally Caught Up to The Chicks". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.

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