The Dixie Chicks are no more. Motivated by the current political climate, the country trio dropped the ‘Dixie’ from their name due to the association it has to the South during the Civil War. Now known as The Chicks, the ladies released their latest music video and single, “March March.”
The video opens with the phrase: “IF YOUR VOICE HELD NO POWER, THEY WOULDN’T TRY TO SILENCE YOU.” True to the name of the song, the video shows various protest marches in the United States in both the 20th and 21st centuries like the women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights Marches in the ‘60s, the Stonewall Uprising, and the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
Over halfway through the video, the hashtag #EndWhiteSilence comes up and then a sign saying “Say Their Names” come up followed by a list of several names of individuals who were the victims of racial violence.
The video has received an outpouring of praise on Twitter.
This isn’t the first time The Chicks spoke up on issues. In 2003, when President George W. Bush had the U.S. military invade Iraq, lead singer Natalie Maines, inspired by protestors of the invasion, said on stage at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, England:
“Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
The quote prompted backlash for the trio back in the United States. Country music radio stations pulled all of the band’s music from rotation. Some stations encouraged people to bring their Dixie Chicks albums, concert tickets, and forms of memorabilia to trash cans set up at the station’s building. The Dixie Chicks’ backlash and how they recovered from it was the subject of a 2007 documentary called Shut Up & Sing.
The ladies are also strong supporters of the LGBTQ+ community. In a 2013 interview with USA Today, Maines expressed that she was “pro-gay marriage, pro-gay everything.” Martie Maguire and Emily Robison recorded a song in their side gig as Court Yard Hounds called “Ain’t No Son” which was inspired after Robison watched a documentary about families kicking their sons out of their homes for being gay.
After a 14-year hiatus, the Chicks announced earlier this year their upcoming studio album, Gaslighter, while releasing the title track as their first single with an accompanying music video.
Sources: Rolling Stone, CNN, Pink News, The Boot, The Sun,
