Laura Lynch, founding member of The Chicks, formerly called Dixie Chicks, has died in a traffic accident. She was 65 years old.
“We are speechless and deeply saddened by Lynch’s departure,” The Chicks share in a statement. «We fondly remember the time we shared creating music, laughing and traveling together. Laura was a shining light, her infectious energy and humor brought the band to life in its early years. Laura had a gift for design, she loved everything related to Texas and the band’s early successes, without Laura, would not have been possible.
Laura Lynch founded the group then called Dixie Chicks in 1989 with Marie Maguire, Emily Trayer and Robin Lynn Macy. In 1993, Macy left the group and Lynch became their lead vocalist. Lynch also played bass in this first iteration of The Chicks prior to their multinational stage, and she became known playing on the street and later at local country and bluegrass festivals.
With Lynch, The Chicks released three albums independently, ‘Thank Heavens for Dale Evans’ (1990), ‘Little Ol’ Cowgirl’ (1992) and ‘Shouldn’t a Told You That’ (1993), without much success. Looking to take a commercial step forward, in the mid-90s, Dixie Chicks dispensed with Lynch, welcomed Natalie Maines, now lead vocalist, into the lineup, signed with Sony Music and, in 1998, released the first of their best-selling albums, ‘Wide Open Spaces’ (1998). Since then, The Chicks have sold nearly 30 million albums in the United States and won 13 Grammy Awards, also thanks to the multimillion-dollar albums ‘Fly’ (1999), ‘Home’ (2002) and ‘Taking the Long Way’. (2006). Specifically, ‘Wide Open Spaces’ and ‘Fly’ are two of the best-selling albums in history in the United States.
In 2006, The Chicks caused a huge scandal in the United States by publicly criticizing the US invasion of Iraq and speaking out against the patriotic spirit. Natalie Maines was the person who uttered those words during a The Chicks concert in London. The Chicks immediately suffered the radio veto, as well as the rejection of fellow members and a large part of their audience, but they still managed to ship millions of copies of ‘Taking the Long Way’, their post-controversy work.
In 2020, The Chicks released their first album after their name change, ‘Gaslighter’. The trio thus dispensed with a nickname (“dixie”) linked to slavery, during a moment of greater awareness against cultural appropriation.
