Country music’s girl group, the Dixie Chicks, are reportedly ready to split after the upcoming Grammy Awards, the trusty National Enquirer reports.
The sketchy-at-best-tab is reporting group members Emily Robison and Martie Maguire are fed up with the loose cannon that is third member Natalie Maines.
“The Chicks are tired and wrung out,” a source told the Enquirer. “They feel they’ve come to the end, and they want a break from each other to spend more time with their families.”
The group has received death threats and has been boycotted by music fans across the United States since Natalie made anti-George W. Bush comments regarding the so-called war on terrorism in Iraq.
“[Emily and Martie have] supported many of [Natalie's] political beliefs, even though it’s put their lives and the lives of their families in jeopardy,” said the insider.
“They’ve received death threats, and it’s made them all nervous wrecks.”
The Dixie Chicks latest project, Shut Up and Sing is a documentary detailing the backlash the group received from the Bush comments. The three Chicks have recently been on the road to support the flick.
When one door closes, another one opens – or, more aptly, when one tour date is cancelled, another is added.
At least that’s the case with the Dixie Chicks.
Due to poor ticket sales in the southern and Midwestern United States, the Chicks have cancelled shows in 14 cities – including Houston, which is in their homestate of Texas (as well as the President’s).
However, due to interest in Canada, many of the cancelled dates have been rescheduled up there. Billboard says the rescheduling is due to poor ticket sales, but the Chicks are saying they are just trying to please demand where it is present.
“We hope that our fans who were looking forward to a stop that is no longer on the tour will be able to join us at a nearby arena this fall, and we are sorry for any confusion or inconvenience these changes have caused,” the group said in a statement.
The “Accidents and Accusations” tour is not the only way the Chicks will be coming to Canada this fall either. The film, “Dixie Chicks – Shut Up and Sing” which follows the aftermath of lead singer Natalie Maines’ anti-Bush comments, will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Despite the reports of a possible flop, the Chicks have proven they still can soar.
“Take the Long Way,” the newest album from the Dixie Chicks, and the first since lead singer Natalie Maines made controversial comments about U.S. President Bush, which led to a Chicks backlash, has reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart, Billboard reports.
Many industry insiders expected the album to flop because Maines recently took back the apology she had made for her comments regarding Bush and the fact that many country stations were not playing the Chicks’ first single from the album, “Not Ready to Make Nice”.
The album sold 526,000 copies in its first week.
As well as the number one album, the Chicks also have the number one single for “Not Ready to Make Nice” on the country chart.
The Dixie Chicks aren’t the only ones who are not ready to make nice, it seems their fans aren’t either.
With their new record, “Taking the Long Way” set to drop in stores tomorrow, it is safe to say the album probably won’t sell close to what the Chicks’ three former albums did, according to Billboard magazine.
Billboard is basing this guess on the disappointing numbers the first two singles from the album to hit the billboard charts so far. “Not Ready To Make Nice” peaked at number 36, while its successor “Everybody Knows” is only at number 50 so far.
The magazine says reasons for the decline in the performance of the Chicks? new singles is partly because the Chicks are trying to move away from Country, a genre which is full of fans and radio stations who have not forgiven lead singer Natalie Maines for the remarks she made about U.S. President Bush three years ago ? mostly because Maines herself has retracted the apology she made regarding the incident and “Not Ready to Make Nice” has driven that point home to listeners and radio station executives.
The Dixie Chicks announced an extensive North American tour Thursday, including five dates across central and western Canada. In a press release, the country lasses unveiled the 43-date Accidents & Accusations tour, kicking off in Detroit on July 21 and running through early November.
Tickets for all dates will go on sale over the first two weeks in June through ?normal ticketing outlets? (in other words, Ticketmaster). The tour is in support of the Chicks? new album, ?Taking the Long Way,? due in stores on May 23.
The Canadian leg of the Dixie Chicks tour:
October 27 – Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place
October 28 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
November 4 – Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
November 5 – Calgary, AB @ Saddledome
November 8 – Vancouver, BC @ GM Place
