This 2002 Country Album Was Chock-Full of Potential Radio Hits Before Scandal Ripped Them Out of Rotation

The Chicks (then known as The Dixie Chicks) were, if you’ll excuse the pun, on the “Top Of The World” in the early 2000s. The country music trio was one of the hottest acts on mainstream country radio, thanks to hits like “Wide Open Spaces”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, and “Goodbye Earl”. In 2002, The Chicks were on track to keep their momentum and take up even more space on country radio.

Then, the scandal came. Most folks who were alive and aware of cultural goings-on in 2003 will likely remember the disastrous backlash that The Chicks faced following Natalie Maines’ open condemnation of then-President George W. Bush. Ironically, Maines made her comments, which included saying she was ashamed to be from the same state (Texas) as the president, in London.

Nevertheless, the public critique traveled at lightning speed back across the pond and to the continental United States. Country music radio, which was at a notable apex of conservatism following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, effectively banned The Chicks from airplay. In between album cycles, this might have been more annoying than career-damaging. But The Chicks had just released their sixth studio album, Home, and were in the process of putting out singles.

What The Chicks Lacked in Radio Play, They Certainly Made Up for With Other Accolades

At a time when songs like Toby Keith’s “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue” were reaching the peaks of their popularity, it stands to reason that The Chicks’ Home would have performed well, too. The album’s third single, “Travelin’ Soldier”, is a tragic ballad about an all-American girl and boy becoming pen pals after the boy is sent to Vietnam to fight in the war. The song ends at a football game, with an announcer listing the names of soldiers who died overseas. The boy’s name is on the list, but the only one who notices or cares is the girl.

The song had all the makings of a successful country radio single in 2002. It was patriotic, a little sad, and a little romantic. Yet, after Natalie Maines made her comments against former President George W. Bush while performing in the U.K., radio stations pulled “Travelin’ Soldier” from rotation. The song that once topped the country music charts fell to lower and lower positions until, finally, it was no longer charting. The trio’s subsequent singles, “Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)” and “Top Of The World”, didn’t gain any momentum, either.

Despite The Chicks stalling out on the airwaves, the album garnered the group several impressive accolades. Home won Grammy Awards for Best Country Album, Best Recording Package, Best Country Instrumental Performance, Best Engineered Album, and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Darrell Scott, the songwriter behind The Chicks’ lead single from Home, “Long Time Gone”, also received a nomination for Best Country Song.

What The Chicks lacked in radio airplay, they made up for in cultural significance, resiliency, and courage. And that’s something no radio DJ would ever be able to take away from them.

Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

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