Dixie Chicks

With a healthy dose of Lone Star State moxie and an apparent ability to accomplish just about anything they set their minds to, the Dixie Chicks do things their way, blurring the lines between old-school and cutting-edge, and blasting apart the borders between country, rock, and pop. Before classic-rock influences were “cool” in country, the Texas trio turned Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” into a crossover smash on both sides of the fence. It takes a crucial combination of toughness and charm to send a Thelma & Louise-style tale of 86’ing an abusive ex soaring up the Country and Pop charts, like the Chicks did with “Goodbye Earl.” And after courting controversy with their outspoken political opinions, the Dixie Chicks came on twice as tough — and scored another hit to boot — on the unapologetic anthem “Not Ready to Make Nice.” The Chicks dig into their down-home roots, picking bluegrass-y licks and getting their honky-tonk kicks in Next Steps.

The Dixie Chicks may have ushered in a whole new era of country music, but their roots in Texan tradition run deep. Besides being glamorous gals with gorgeous voices, they’re powerful pickers who can kick up a good, old-fashioned hoedown with their fiery fiddle, banjo, and guitar licks, whether it’s on the fleet-fingered instrumental “Lil’ Jack Slade,” or the fret-burning, banjo-slashing, backwoods-matrimony send-up “White Trash Wedding.” The Chicks know the way to honky-tonk heaven, too, of course — it’s a road they ride to glory on the saloon-song sorrow of “Tonight The Heartache’s On Me” and their update of First Lady of Country Tammy Wynette’s stone-cold classic “Stand By Your Man.” In Deep Cuts, follow the Chicks in flight, with whirling Western-swing flings and rock-star sidekicks.

When you’ve got three gals with such wide-ranging talents together in one trio, the possibilities are as wide-open as the Texas sky. One minute you might find the Dixie Chicks catching a ride with Asleep At the Wheel on the Western swing standard “Roly Poly,” the next they’ll be onstage rocking up Bob Dylan’s mighty “Mississippi.” On their Court Yard Hounds side project, sister Chicks Martie Maguire and Emily Robison cozy up to another Dylan — Wallflowers main man Jakob, who joins them for the sweet, country-folk serenade “See You In the Spring.” Meanwhile, Dixie Chicks spitfire Natalie Maines’ own extracurricular activities include a tribute to legendary Texas rancher Charlie Goodnight, with the hummable history lesson “White Women’s Clothes.”

They say you can’t have it all, but if that’s true, the Dixie Chicks come damn close. Velvety vocal harmonies, jaw-dropping instrumental chops, stellar songwriting skills, glamorous, head-turning stage presence — what more could anyone ask for? Maybe mega-platinum sales, shelves of GRAMMY® Awards, and enough country/pop crossover hits to make your head spin? Got ‘em. But most impressive of all is the fact that the Dixie Chicks have achieved all this without a single ounce of compromise. In fact, their outspoken opinions have gotten them in their share of hot water, but the trio’s talents are titanic enough to transcend such controversies. And now, we’ve gathered every essential chirp ever to emerge from the Chicks in one convenient place. From honky-tonk heartbreakers to bright blasts of pop perfection and so much in between, you’ve got everything you need to know about these lovely, longhorn lasses right here.