The Lowdown: The most infamous act in country music, The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks), stopped releasing new music 14 years ago, after their seventh album, Taking the Long Way, netted five Grammys. These included Album of the Year, plus Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Not Ready to Make Nice”, which settled any lingering questions about whether they regretted their 2003 criticism of George W. Bush (they did not). Gaslighter marks the trio’s official return, and a lot has changed, both in the surrounding world and in the sound of The Chicks’ music. But some crucial elements remain the same: their attention is firmly focused ahead of them and on the things they care for. In the songs that focus on deteriorating relationships, and notably lead singer Natalie Maines’...
The Chicks, formerly the Dixie Chicks, have released their comeback album Gaslighter. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. While The Chicks are no longer whistling dixie (they changed their name last month in the aftermath of Black Lives Matter protests) this is still the same trio that tore up country radio at the turn of millennium, and it’s the same group that ran smack into the W. Bush war propaganda machine. Lead singer Natalie Maines’ 2003 comments about the impending invasion of Iraq — “We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas” — led to the most forceful music backlash in decades. Fans burned their ...
When the pandemic hit and lockdown was initiated, Stephen Colbert was forced to abandon the iconic Ed Sullivan Theater. His last guests scheduled to appear at the New York City landmark were the then-named Dixie Chicks, but they were understandably bumped in favor of CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. On Thursday night, the group now called just The Chicks were finally able to make up that missed appearance on The Late Show with a remote performance of “March March” and a discussion about their new moniker. Asked why they’d chosen now to drop “Dixie” from their name, lead singer Natalie Maines said a change was always in the works. “Well, it’s because of everything that’s going on in the world. It was about time; we’ve wanted to change it for a long time, actually,” she explaine...
After a decade-plus away from the spotlight, The Chicks are very much back. The country trio, formerly the Dixie Chicks, are rejuvenated under their new, tighter name and with their first album in 14 years Gaslighter, which dropped at midnight. Their fifth studio set, Gaslighter features the previously-released tracks “Juliana Calm Down,” “March March,” “Sleep At Night” and the album’s title track. The Chicks — Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Strayer — dropped Dixie from their name last month, explaining at the time: “We want to meet this moment”. Across their career to date, they’ve collected 13 Grammy Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, four American Music Awards and millions of fans around the globe. Gaslighter is a lo...
Getty Images Netflix is still growing as people continue to shelter in place around the country, but the company is now seeing the slowed subscriber growth executives predicted would arrive three months ago. On top of announcing that longtime chief content officer Ted Sarandos would join CEO Reed Hastings as co-CEO, the company made a few impressive announcements. Netflix added 10.2 million subscribers in its second quarter, beating the company’s own estimates that it made in its first quarter, which suggested it could add around 7.5 million. Netflix noted that it added 26 million paid new subscribers in the first two quarters of 2020 alone; in 2019, the company added 28 million subscribers in total. The company’s revenue grew 25 percent year over year, but missed its revenue goals for the...
Anita “Lady A” White spelled out her stage name squabble with country trio Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, in an interview with ABC News Live Prime yesterday (July 14). “I have built this name for decades before they were born, and I’ve been building it,” the 61-year-old singer argued as part of her case during the TV segment. She later compared the “grind” of independent musicians to BIPOC, or Black, Indigenous people of color, saying “Sometimes all we have is our name. We don’t want to have that taken from us. Our culture gets taken, our music gets taken. This is more important for those that come behind me.” In June, the country trio (Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and David Haywood) announced on&n...
Mason Ramsey sings till the cows come home after enjoying their eco-friendly lemongrass diet in the latest Burger King commercial that came out today (July 14). “When cows fart and burp and splatter/ well it ain’t no laughing matter/ They’re releasing methane every time they do/ And then methane from their rear goes up through the atmosphere/ And pollutes our planet, warming me and you,” Ramsey sings while exiting out of a cow’s rear in a rhinestoned white suit and ascending into outer space. But no one’s laughing in their matching rhinestoned gas masks to exemplify the dangers of cow-based greenhouse gas emissions. The 13-year-old twanging star yodels about the fast-food franchise’s latest experiment to find a diet for “reducing meth-aa-aa-aane, m...
Well, here’s a story that keeps getting worse. Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, is now suing Anita “Lady A” White, a Black blues singer who has been performing under the name for over 20 years, over the rights to her name. To recap, the country trio Lady A dropped the “ntebellum” from their name in June in response to the country’s ongoing reckoning with institutionalized and ingrained racism. Beyond the fact that the “A” essentially still stands for America’s pre-Civil War era, the switch drew criticism when it was revealed that White had been already been using the moniker for years. “For them to not even reach out is pure privilege,” the 61-year-old artist said at the time. A few days later, the band Lady A tweeted a picture of their video chat with the singer Lady A. “We are ...
Darius Rucker and his wife of almost 20 years, Beth, have announced that they are separating. The country singer and Hootie & the Blowfish frontman revealed the news on social media on Saturday (July 11), noting that the split is amicable. “Beth and I would like to share that after much reflection we have made the decision to consciously uncouple,” Rucker wrote. “We remain close friends and parenting partners and continue to be each other’s biggest cheerleaders.” His statement continued: “Our priority will always be our beautiful family. We have so much love in our hearts for each other and will continue to encourage growth and expansion in one other. Please be kind as we take on this journey, and we thank you for your love and support always.” The c...
Lady A, the country band formerly known as Lady Antebellum, is suing Anita “Lady A” White, a Black blues singer who has been performing under the name for over 20 years, over the rights to her moniker. Now, Anita White has issued a new statement to Pitchfork in response to that lawsuit. In the band’s most recent statement, Lady A said the decision to file a lawsuit stemmed from White “demanding a $10 million payment.” That money, as White later clarified, would be split in half to rebrand herself and to donate to organizations supporting Black independent artists — a tradeoff so that Lady Antebellum could keep the Lady A moniker. White is now doubling down in that request, saying, “I will not allow Lady Antebellum to obliterate me and my career so they can look ‘woke’ to their fans.” ...
Darius Rucker is heading to the Grand Ole Opry stage with Clint Black and Tracy Lawrence for a virtual edition of his 11th annual “Darius & Friends” concert. The event, which raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, will air as a pay-per-view live stream event available on LiveXLive.com/Darius and on LiveXLive’s app. “Even though we can’t all get together for a normal concert right now, it’s important that we continue to support St. Jude and the amazing work that they do,” said Rucker in a statement. “I hope we can bring a fun night of music to everyone watching from home while also raising money for this important cause.” Tickets to the event start at $15 with VIP options offering limited-edition and signed posters priced at $50 and...