Chicks defiant with interview, nude cover
Band defends antiwar sentiments, cites concerns about safety
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The Dixie Chicks -- from left, Emily Robison, Natalie Maines and Martie Maguire -- speak with Diane Sawyer on ABC's "Primetime Thursday."
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CNN's Bill Tucker says country music's Dixie Chicks are taking a tough stand after being assailed for criticizing U.S. President George W. Bush (April 24)
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(CNN) -- On the eve of their U.S. tour, the Dixie Chicks -- who raised a ruckus last month with lead singer Natalie Maines' comments about President Bush and the war in Iraq -- have blasted back with both barrels.
They answer their critics in an interview with Diane Sawyer and appear nude on the cover of Entertainment Weekly under the headline, "The Dixie Chicks Come Clean."
"I'm not truly embarrassed that, you know, President Bush is from my state, that's not really what I care about," Maines said in an interview with Sawyer, according to The Associated Press. The interview aired on ABC's "Primetime Thursday."
"It was the wrong wording with genuine emotion and questions and concern behind it. ... Am I sorry that I asked questions and that I just don't follow? No."
In a March 10 concert in London, England, Maines told the crowd: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." The group also hails from the Lone Star State.
Maines apologized for her comments later that week, but the damage was done: A number of country music radio stations stopped playing the group's songs, and some organizations sponsored bonfires in which the group's CDs were destroyed.
Maines and the trio's other members -- sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire -- also tell Sawyer the fallout was too harsh for the offense and they've always supported U.S. troops, even though they questioned the war.
"It's the people who have gone overboard and done such irrational things that take you back to the days of book burning. That is a concern for me," Maguire said.
"We know some of our fans were shocked and ... upset. I totally understand it. My problem is, when does it cross the line? When is trashing Emily's property OK? When is writing a threatening letter OK?"
Robison added that the band was dealing with "bigger issues" than the loss of record sales.
"I'm concerned about my safety. I'm concerned about my safety for my family," she said. "When you're getting death threats ... At our concerts this year, we have to have metal detectors, and to me that's just crazy. But we have to take precautions because this thing has gotten so out of control."
Naked honesty
The interview aired a week before the group begins its U.S. tour, scheduled to start May 1 in Greenville, South Carolina.
On the May 2 issue of Entertainment Weekly, the three appear naked with epithets such as "Traitors," "Boycott," "Proud Americans" and "Dixie Sluts" printed on their bodies.
"It's not about the nakedness," the New York Post reported Maguire as saying. "It's about clothes getting in the way of labels."
The Chicks earned support from another musical quarter recently. On his Web site, Bruce Springsteen defended the group's right to say what they believe.
"The Dixie Chicks have taken a big hit lately for exercising their basic right to express themselves," wrote Springsteen -- who has been touring overseas. "For them to be banished wholesale from radio stations, and even entire radio networks, for speaking out is un-American. The pressure coming from the government and big business to enforce conformity of thought concerning the war and politics goes against everything that this country is about -- namely freedom."
Maguire told Sawyer that she believes the group has taken harder knocks because of the conservative nature of country music.
"History tells us that we're very conservative," she said. "I don't think it's because we're women. I don't think it's because of anything else."
Album sales, tour successful
Despite the controversy -- or perhaps because of it -- the Chicks remain one of the top draws in all of pop music.
Though the group's song "Travelin' Soldier," which was No. 1 on Billboard's country charts around the time Maines made the remark, fell off the charts, sales of the group's CD, "Home," picked up after an initial dip.
The album has been out since late summer, selling more than 6 million copies. It hit No. 1 on Billboard's album chart and has spent 19 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's country album chart.
Most of the shows on the tour already had sold out before Maines' comments. The band's agent, Rob Light, was unavailable for comment Wednesday but told Billboard this week that of the 59 shows, only six have seats left and those are all 85 percent to 90 percent sold.
The
Associated Press &
Reuters contributed to this report.
