The Dixie Chicks have dropped the Dixie.
The Grammy Award-winning country trio has quietly changed its name to The Chicks, while simultaneously releasing a video for the new song, “March March,” which features images from recent and historical protests.
The band posted a brief statement on their website: "We want to meet this moment."
Over the years, Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire have been criticized for using “Dixie” in their name, a term affiliated with the Civil War-era South.
The trio ignited a firestorm in 2003 when they criticized George W. Bush during a concert in London in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. The group was ostracized in conservative country music circles; many radio stations stopped playing their platinum-selling songs and fans made grand displays of setting their CDs and merchandise on fire.
But The Chicks received vindication in 2006 with the release of “Taking the Long Way,” an album that sold more than 2 million copies and swept the major awards at the Grammys in 2007.
Their first album since then, “Gaslighter,” is due July 17.
The Chicks join the former Lady Antebellum in modifying their name during a time of historical reckoning. Earlier this month, the group now known as Lady A – a common nickname among fans for years – said they were making the permanent change because, "Our hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality and biases black women and men have always faced and continue to face every day."
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