The Dixie Chicks are a country music group, comprising Martie Maguire, Emily Robison and lead singer Natalie Maines. Together, they have sold over 36 million albums as of March 2009, making them the highest-grossing female band in the US. RIAA Official Assessment Site Retrieved 9 May, 2008

The group formed in 1989 in Dallas, Texas, and was originally composed of four women performing bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years, without attracting a major label. After the departure of one bandmate, the replacement of their lead singer, and a slight change in their repertoire, the Dixie Chicks achieved massive country music and pop success, beginning in 1998 with hit songs like "Wide Open Spaces", "Cowboy Take Me Away", and "Long Time Gone". The women also became well-known for their independent spirit and controversial comments on subjects such as war and politics.

During a London, England concert ten days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, lead vocalist Maines said, "we don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas" (the Dixie Chicks' home state). The statement offended people who thought it rude and unpatriotic, and the ensuing controversy cost the group half of their concert audience attendance in the United States and led to accusations of the three women being un-American, as well as hate mail, death threats, and the destruction of their albums in protest.

As of 2009, they have won thirteen Grammy Awards, with five of them earned in 2007 including the coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Taking The Long Way.

First formation of the band

The Dixie Chicks was founded by Laura Lynch on upright bass, guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin in 1989. (The Erwin sisters have since married and changed their names. Erwin had a short-lived marriage from 1995-1999 during which she was known as Martie Seidel, though in 2001, she remarried and the sisters are now known as Martie Maguire and Emily Robison. Front Page publicity Dixie Chicks) The four took their band name from the song "Dixie Chicken" by Lowell George of Little Feat, Tarnow, Noah Dixie Chicks Rolling Stone Magazine; 12/01/98 Issue 801, pg.37 originally playing predominantly bluegrass and a mix of country standards. All four women played and sang, although Maguire and Robison provided most of the instrumental accompaniment for the band while Lynch and Macy shared lead vocals. Maguire primarily played fiddle, mandolin, and viola, while Robison's specialties included five-stringed banjo and dobro.

In 1990, the Dixie Chicks paid $5,000 for a first independent studio album with the name,Thank Heavens for Dale Evans, Brooks, Robert (Retrieved 25 March, 2008) The All-Inclusive Dixie Chicks Timeline named after the pioneering, multi-talented female performer Dale Evans. The album included two instrumental songs. In 1987, Maguire (still known then as Martha Erwin) had won second place, and in 1989, third place in the National fiddle championships held at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas.Walnut Valley Association 1987 and 1989 National fiddle championships in archive Retrieved 2 March, 2008 A Christmas single was released at the end of the year - a 45 RPM vinyl recording named Home on the Radar Range, with "Christmas Swing" on one side and the song on the flip side named "The Flip Side". The record titles were significant; during that period of time, the bandmates dressed up as "cowgirls", and publicity photos reflected this image. However, even with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, Dixie Chicks Fans Net with few exceptions, such as Garrison Keillor's radio show, on NPR; A Prairie Home Companion, Clark, Renee Can the Dixie Chicks make it in the big time? Local Heroes (Transcribed from) Dallas Life Magazine, Dallas Morning News, March 1, 1992 Retrieved 23 March, 2008 they didn't get much national airplay.