DIXIE CHICKS RETURN FOR NORTH AMERICAN SUMMER 2016 TOUR (PRNewsFoto/Live Nation Entertainment)
Columbia/Legacy will reissue the Dixie Chicks classic four studio albums–Wide Open Spaces (1998), Fly (1999), Home (2002) and Taking The Long Way (2006)–newly remastered and pressed on high resolution 150-gram 12″ vinyl on Friday, April 15. The albums may be preordered on (Amazon).
Filled with big hits, classic tracks and perennial fan favorites, these are the four essential albums which secured the Dixie Chicks’ status as the top selling group in country music history. The newly remastered vinyl editions arrive on the eve of the DCX MMXVI World Tour (the Dixie Chicks’ fifth as concert headliners). Opening April 16, 2016 in Antwerp, Belgium and finishing October 10, 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, DCX MMXVI marks the first time in a decade that Dixie Chicks have toured the United States as headliners (their last major stateside concert tour was with The Eagles in 2010 while their 2013-2014 Long Time Gone Tour dates were exclusive to Canada and Europe).
Collectively, these four Dixie Chicks albums have sold more than 30 million copies while taking home 13 Grammy Awards. Of the four titles, only Home has been previously available on vinyl. Each of these albums has topped Billboard’s Country Album chart and three (Fly, Home and Taking The Long Way) reached #1 on the Billboard 200 (Wide Open Spaces peaked at #4 on that chart).
Dixie Chicks first came together as a bluegrass quartet in Texas in 1989, later becoming a trio in 1995 when founding members (and sisters) Emily Robison (banjo/dobro) and Martie Maguire (fiddle/mandolin) were joined by 21-year-old Natalie Maines (daughter of guitarist/producer Lloyd Maines) as the group’s new lead vocalist and guitarist. By the late 1990s, the classic Dixie Chicks trio lineup struck a stunning balance between the traditional Nashville sound and the contemporary influences of alternative rock and pop.
Dixie Chicks succeeded beyond all expectations: their first album as a trio, Wide Open Spaces, catapulted the group to the top of the country charts and into crossover success. Aided by back-to-back Country No. 1 singles “There’s Your Trouble,” “Wide Open Spaces” and “You Were Mine,” Wide Open Spaces sold more than 12 million copies in the United States–more than all the top country acts of that year combined–and it’s still the best-selling country album by a group ever. Wide Open Spaces won the Best Country Album Grammy while “There’s Your Trouble” took home the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal trophy.
Fly, Dixie Chicks’ successor to their major label debut, continued the group’s winning streak taking home the Best Country Album Grammy and the single, “Ready to Run” winning in the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category. The album topped the pop and country charts, sold more than 10 million copies and earned Dixie Chicks a rare back-to-back Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America.
With their next studio album, 2002’s Home, Dixie Chicks shed some of their pop influences for a more roots-based sound and sold more than six million copies in the US, generating their first pop Top 10 single, a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” in the process. Home won the Best Country Album Grammy while “Long Time Gone,” the album’s first single, grabbed the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal trophy. Home took two more Grammys when “Lil’ Jack Slade” won Best Country Instrumental Performance and the album won Best Recording Package.
With 2006’s Taking The Long Way, Dixie Chicks made their most powerful musical and cultural statement to-date. Produced by Rick Rubin, driven by the anthemic mission statement, “Not Ready to Make Nice,” Taking The Long Way was embraced by critics and fans alike. Dixie Chicks made music history at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards when they became the first female group ever to take home the big three top Grammy honors: Song Of The Year (for “Not Ready To Make Nice”), Record Of The Year (for “Not Ready To Make Nice”) and Album Of The Year (for Taking The Long Way). They achieved another Grammy milestone that night when Taking The Long Way became the first Best Country Album ever to win the Album Of The Year trophy. In addition to joining a handful of artists to have claimed all three top Grammys in a single year, the Dixie Chicks went an incredible five-for-five, winning in each of the five categories for which they were nominated including Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (for “Not Ready To Make Nice”) and Best Country Album (for Taking The Long Way).
With four Best Country Album Grammys–1999: Wide Open Spaces; 2000: Fly; 2003: Home; 2007: Taking The Long Way–to their credit, Dixie Chicks are the only group or artist to have won more than once in that category and are the only group or artist to have won in that category for every studio album they’ve recorded.
When Taking The Long Way debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart the week of its release in May 2006, Dixie Chicks became the first female group in chart history to have three albums debut at #1, breaking the record they’d established in 2002 when Home debuted at #1 and made them the first female group ever to have two albums debut in the top slot. With the #1 debut of Taking The Long Way, the Dixie Chicks became the first female group in chart history to have three studio albums occupy the #1 slot on the Top 200.
The first and only female group to have achieved Diamond Award status, Dixie Chicks have done it twice.
Dixie Chicks have taken an extended hiatus from the studio since Taking the Long Way, with Robison and Maguire releasing two country albums as Court Yard Hounds and Maines releasing the rock-influenced Mother in 2013. But the classic Dixie Chicks trio (who last toured in 2013-2014 through Canada and Europe) is going strong, playing two shows last October for Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit and their monumental DCX MMXVI World Tour launching this April.