The Chicks are slammed for VERY off-key performance of the Star-Spangled Banner at DNC
Country legends The Chicks received a lot of criticism for their awkward, off-key performance of the national anthem during the Democratic National Convention.
The Nashville residents, who caused a stir 20 years ago with their criticism of George W. Bush and the Iraq war, were a highly anticipated guest at the final night of the DNC.
However, their performance of the Star-Spangled Banner was panned by almost everyone, even fans of the band formerly known as “The Dixie Chicks” before dropping the d-word in 2020.
David Knowles wrote: ‘I’m still amazed at how off-key the Chicks sang the national anthem.’
“That was horrible and I like their music,” one social media user added on X.
Country legends The Chicks received a lot of backlash for an off-key performance of the national anthem during the Democratic National Convention
Others were a bit more agitated: ‘Wow… Maybe your monitors weren’t working. Idk. But that was awful. At least you had the dignity to finish your sentence and then smile. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost…’
Another put it more bluntly: ‘Unbelievably false. Well done, has beens.’
“They sounded like they had hearing problems. The Chicks are iconic for their harmonies… something must have gone wrong,” wrote one more sympathetic listener.
The band – Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer – made no mention of the audio quality and simply retweeted a video from a pro-Kamala Harris account.
The outspoken country group sparked outrage in 2003 after Maines spoke out against President George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq during a performance in the United Kingdom.
Her comments angered their largely conservative fan base and led to a boycott of their music, which caused album sales to plummet and their chart position to decline.
Maines’ comments even led to death threats against the band, prompting them to beef up security during their 2003 Top Of The World Tour.
Maguire felt rejected by the rural community, he told the German publication The Mirror: ‘We no longer feel part of the country scene, it can no longer be our home… We now consider ourselves part of the big rock ‘n’ roll family.’
Name Change: The Dixie Chicks have quietly changed their name, dropping the word Dixie and rebranding as The Chicks on Thursday. They’ve also released a music video for their anthem March March.
After years of criticism over the comments, the group released the album Taking The Long Way in 2006.
Despite concerns that the stars would still face controversy, the album was a success, both critically and commercially.
Taking The Long Way debuted at number one on both the US pop and country albums charts. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, the band won five trophies, including Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year.
Although the group has performed occasionally in the years since, they have largely disappeared from the spotlight since Taking The Long Way – aside from a few major awards and festival appearances.
Gaslighter, The Chicks’ first album in 14 years, was released in 2020.
The group quietly changed its name, dropping the word Dixie and changing its name to The Chicks on June 25.
Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Strayer changed their band’s social media names to The Chicks, but made no statements about the new name.
Although the trio did not give a reason for the name change, the band has recently come under increasing pressure to change its name due to the links between the word Dixie and the racial history of the South.
Speaking: The outspoken country group sparked outrage in 2003 after Maines spoke out against President George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq during a show in the United Kingdom. Above in 2003
Excited: Her comments enraged their largely conservative fan base, leading to a boycott of their music that devastated album sales and sank their chart position. Pictured above are protesters at a May 2003 concert in Knoxville, Tennessee
Dixie is a term used for parts of the Southern United States, particularly the states that were part of the Confederacy.
The Confederacy was a territory of slave-holding states below the Mason-Dixon Line. These states seceded from the Union because they wanted to maintain slavery, leading to the American Civil War.
People have recently been putting pressure on the Dixie Chicks via social media to change their name because of the implications of the word Dixie, especially considering the trio have established themselves as liberal country stars.
A recent opinion column in Variety was also asked if it was finally time for the Dixie Chicks to change their name and suggested that the answer was a resounding ‘yes’.
Author Jeremy Helligar called the term Dixie the “exemplar of white America” and criticized the Dixie Chicks for their silence on the Black Lives Matter movement. “Their silence was deafening,” he wrote.
The group also showed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement by releasing a brand new music video for their anthem, March March, which features protest footage from throughout history.