Maybe it "revenge" against Bush and the republican establishment, maybe it was the lack of competition, or maybe it was because the album was that good, but the Dixie Chicks reigned supreme at the 07 Grammy Awards with wins in the biggest Grammy categories of Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Country Album of the Year, and Country Performance of the Year for "Not Ready to Make Nice" single and album Taking the Long Way.
These wins came despite the abandonment of the country genre they once ruled over due to comments by Natalie Maines that criticized Bush on the eve of the Iraq War claiming she was ashamed that Bush was from Texas. This kicked off a campaign in country music to basically destroy the careers of the Dixie Chicks with fans and country music radio stations refusing to play their music. An apology days later did little to stop the backlash.
The wins yesterday, especially the two country wins are probably not going over well for the fans of country music as the boycott by fans and radio against the Chicks continue despite and 70%+ of the country not satisfied with the Iraq War and about the same not please with Bush. In effect, the comments Maines had made in 2003 have become the common sentiment for most of the country. As the Chicks pointed out during one of their award wins, they don't really have a genre as country has rejected them and pop/top 10 hasn't made up its mind. The awards will probably help many stations get off the fence on playing their music. So congrats to the Dixie Chicks for standing tall and getting the chance to give a collective finger to all those that tried to destroy them three years ago.
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