First, let’s travel back to 2003. That year, the Dixie Chicks (now known simply as “The Chicks”) were on top of the world. The Texan trio—Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, and Emily Strayer—had number one singles and albums under their belts, multiple Grammy Awards, and brands falling at their feet. A lawsuit with their record label, Sony, had finally been settled; they’d just sung the national anthem at the Super Bowl; and they were about to embark on a world tour promoting their critically acclaimed LP, Home. Critics and fans alike knew the power they wielded: they were bridging the gap between pop and country with a sprinkle of politics, revitalizing the genre for a new era.
On March 10, 2003, a little over a week before the United States invaded Iraq, the band performed to a crowd of adoring Londoners in the Bush Theatre. As reported in Betty Clark’s Guardian review at the time, Natalie Maines, the lead singer, had some choice words for then-US President George W. Bush. Maines said to the crowd: “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.” It was met with roaring applause from the crowd, but patriots back home were not happy.
The members of the band were branded traitors and “Saddam’s Angels”; their songs were banned from the radio; and Maines’s comments were the topic of every right-wing talk show across America. They were sent death threats, and Maines needed 24-hour security outside of her house. Were they the first real victims of cancel culture? Very possibly. But, in very punk-rock fashion, they remained unapologetic. In May 2003, the trio posed for Entertainment Weekly dressed in nothing but the slurs that had been leveled at them.
What’s Beyoncé got to do with all of this? More than a decade later, in 2016, The Chicks embraced Beyoncé’s foray into country music with “Daddy Lessons.” They covered the song at their shows and, eventually, the band joined Bey for a performance on the Country Music Awards stage—a stage The Chicks hadn’t taken since they were blacklisted. Even before the duet, some country fans were incandescent with rage over the fact that Beyoncé, famous as a pop/R&B act, was on the line-up for the ceremony at all. Country music legend Alan Jackson reportedly walked out during their performance.
Whilst Beyoncé has made clear that Cowboy Carter “ain’t a country album, it’s a “Beyoncé album,” at least we all know the lore behind it.
