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Is the (Dixie) Chicks ban over now?

RMarino

RMarino

In recent years, I’ve noticed The Chicks played frequently on stations that lean toward classic country, even in conservative markets. Even on the station I used to work at in the early 2000s, which banned the Dixie Chicks right after the infamous incident, is now playing them frequently (as the station shifted toward classic country).

So what exactly is happening here? Have listeners forgotten the event? Or has public opinion on Bush changed so much that the incident doesn’t carry as much weight? Or has so much time passed that today’s audience was still in diapers in 2003 and they don’t care either way?
 
RMarino said:
So what exactly is happening here? Have listeners forgotten the event? Or has public opinion on Bush changed so much that the incident doesn’t carry as much weight? Or has so much time passed that today’s audience was still in diapers in 2003 and they don’t care either way?
Click to expand...

That's kind of it. We did some research on it, and there is still a lot of love for their music. That sort of overshadows the politics after all these years. The context of that situation, in the middle of the Iraq war, has long since dissipated. What's left are these songs, and there's no question about the music. We started playing them again more than ten years ago.

The irony is the song that was in the chart when Natalie said her thing was "Traveling' Soldier." Once again, a great song then, and it fits well now. Cody Johnson recorded a version of the song, and it's become a staple at his shows. Cody is no apologist for the Chicks, but he knows a good song when he hears it.
 
Multiple changes happened in the past two decades from change in presidential administrations to change in management at music labels, radio outlets and the rise of new platforms lead to where the current state of where the Dixie Chicks are at today.
 
To his credit, George W. Bush defended their right to speak out against him, unlike the current president.
en.wikipedia.org

Dixie Chicks comments on George W. Bush - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
George W. Bush said:
I don't really care what the Dixie Chicks said. I want to do what I think is right for the American people, and if some singers or Hollywood stars feel like speaking out, that's fine. That's the great thing about America.
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I would say after 23 years it's fair enough.

They never lost their public popularity.. Just the radio and fake fans.
 
Since WSM is back to playing the Chicks, you know they are back in the good graces of Nashville.

We'll never know many other hit songs they could have had back then.
 
KilowattKat said:
We'll never know many other hit songs they could have had back then.
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Keep in mind that they quit Nashville before the big stink happened. They sued their record label, fired their Nashville staff, moved back to Texas, and signed with a NY label.


www.rollingstone.com

Dixie Chicks Sue Sony

Band says label owes them millions in royalties
www.rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com

The album "Home" came after that, and then the incident happened in 2003. Their subsequent albums never sold as well as the first two. I wonder if the incident would have happened had they stayed in Nashville and hadn't sued everyone. A lot of people lost their jobs when they sued everybody.
 


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