Dixie Chicks name change explained: Band break silence to reveal they wanted to ‘separate’ themselves from ‘people who wave the Dixie flag’
- The country pop group formerly known as the Dixie Chicks have explained why they changed their name in a New York Times interview
- Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Strayer told the newspaper they officially changed their name to the Chicks last month after seeing a Confederate flag on Instagram labeled ‘The Dixie Swastika’
- The women added they had for a long time wanted to ‘separate’ themselves ‘from people that wave that Dixie flag’
- The Dixie flag is one of the designs often used to designate the Confederate States of America, and has long been considered a symbol of racism stemming from America’s slavery past
- The Confederacy was an area of slave-holding states below the Mason-Dixon line that seceded from the union over the issue of wanting to keep slavery in place, leading to the U.S. Civil War
- The Chicks’ new album Gaslighter drops on July 17
The country pop group formerly known as the Dixie Chicks have explained why they changed their name.
Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Strayer told the New York Times they officially changed their name to the Chicks last month after seeing a Confederate flag on Instagram labeled ‘The Dixie Swastika’.
‘I don’t want to have anything to do with that,’ Strayer told the newspaper.
A news start: The country pop group formerly known as the Dixie Chicks have explained why they changed their name. Emily Strayer and Natalie Maines seen here in 2018
Despite the change only being enacted recently, the Travelin’ Soldier hitmakers said it’s been on their minds for many years.
‘We wanted to change it years and years and years ago,’ said Maines, 45.
‘We were literally teenagers when we picked that stupid name,’ added Maguire, 50.
The women had for a long time wanted to ‘separate’ themselves ‘from people that wave that Dixie flag.’
The Dixie flag is one of the designs often used to designate the Confederate States of America, and has long been considered a symbol of racism stemming from America’s slavery past.
The Confederacy was an area of slave-holding states below the Mason-Dixon line that seceded from the union over the issue of wanting to keep slavery in place, leading to the U.S. Civil War.
Thanks no thanks: [L-R in 2014] Martie Erwin Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Strayer told the New York Times they officially changed their name to the Chicks last month after seeing a Confederate flag on Instagram labeled ‘The Dixie Swastika’
History: The Dixie flag is one of the designs often used to designate the Confederate States of America, and has long been considered a symbol of racism stemming from America’s slavery past
The Chicks first courted controversy in 2003, when, just days before the US invasion of Iraq, Maines told a London audience the trio were ‘ashamed’ that then President George W. Bush was from Texas.
The ensuing backlash led to boycotts of the band and diminished album sales.
However singer Maines told the New York Times that the group are now far more willing to speak out politically.
‘I criticize the President every single day!’ said the native Texan.
Vocal: The Chicks first courted controversy in 2003, when, just days before the US invasion of Iraq, Maines told a London audience the trio were ‘ashamed’ that then President George W. Bush was from Texas. Seen here in 2000
The group also spoke about the controversy surround their 2016 Country Music Awards performance with Beyonce.
Country musician Alan Jackson famously walked out while the group performed Daddy Lessons with Beyonce and others criticized the performance.
‘For them to disrespect her that way,’ Maines said of the Destiny’s Child superstar, ‘was disgusting.’
Criticism: The group also spoke about the controversy surround their 2016 Country Music Awards performance with Beyonce
The Chicks will release their upcoming album, Gaslighter, following a long hiatus.
The release, which is a comeback for the group who hasn’t put out a new album in well over a decade, was delayed previously due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Formed in 1989, The Dixie Chicks reached the pinnacle of their popularity in the early 2000s but plummeted out of the spotlight after they criticized then-president George W. Bush over the Iraq war.
The Chicks’ new album Gaslighter drops on July 17.
New music: The Chicks will release their upcoming album, Gaslighter, following a long hiatus under their new name
Anticipation: The release, which is a comeback for the group who hasn’t put out a new album in well over a decade, was delayed previously due to the coronavirus pandemic
In addition to changing their official social media handles, the cover of Gaslighter has been modified from Dixie Chicks to The Chicks.
The group also released a powerful music video for their song, March March, which featured the names of Black men, women and children who have been murdered by police violence.
‘Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Tamir Rice, Brian Keith Day, Eric Reason,’ were some of the names of the innocent victims emblazoned across the screen.
‘March, march to my own drum // March, march to my own drum // Hey, hey, I’m an army of one,’ the group sings in the melodic chorus.
March March dropped as the U.S. is in the midst of race revolution as weeks of protests continue across the country following a string of innocent Black people who were killed at the hands of police.
Power: The group also released a powerful music video for their song, March March, which featured the names of Black men, women and children who have been murdered by police violence
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xwBjF_VVFvE%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
The death of George Floyd, who was killed when a now-former Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, was the catalyst to the current reckoning of racism and white supremacy in America.
The Chicks music video shows a series of clips of protesters and marches throughout history fighting for issues like climate change, gun violence, suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights, segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, gender equality and Black Lives Matter.
In the lyrics, the group singing about standing with Emma, in reference to gun violence advocate Emma Gonzalez who is a survivor of the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting.
The lyrics read: ‘Standing with Emma and our sons and daughters // Watchin’ our youth have to solve our problems // I’ll follow them so who’s comin’ with me?’
Emma’s image flashes on the screen along with other young activists on the forefront of hot button issues like Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai.
Lyrics: ‘March, march to my own drum // March, march to my own drum // Hey, hey, I’m an army of one,’ the group sings in the melodic chorus
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