![\"Kelsea](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Kelsea-Ballerini-Reflects-on-the-Fallout-of-Country-Musics-\u2018Tomato-Gate-1.jpg?crop=0px%2C68px%2C1535px%2C867px&resize=400%2C225&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Biggest Country Music Controversies Through the Years<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tSometimes America\u2019s sweethearts go sour. From Morgan Wallen to The Chicks, the biggest names in country music have been at the center of some major controversies. Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer found themselves in hot water in the early 2000s after sharing their personal politics on a public stage. While performing across the [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Two years after the attack on the World Trade Center, the country music scene was embracing patriotism more than ever \u2014 and the Chicks\u2019 remarks were perceived as radical in comparison. The blowback was immediate, and Maines\u00a0quickly released a statement in hopes of explaining herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been overseas for several weeks and have been reading and following the news accounts of our governments\u2019 position,\u201d she wrote via the bands\u2019 website, per The Guardian<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThe anti-American sentiment that has unfolded here is astounding. While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost.\u201d<\/p>\nShe continued, \u201cI feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the US and alienating the rest of the world. My comments were made in frustration and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n
The explanation did little in the moment, and country music stations throughout the United States began pulling The Chicks\u2019 music amid listener complaints and allegations of \u201cAnti-American\u201d rhetoric.\u00a0 In Kansas City, a party called the \u201cChicken Toss\u201d was allegedly by a radio station, where fans would trash the band\u2019s tapes, CDs and concert tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cKansas City is definitely the heart of the Midwest,\u201d Dale Carter<\/strong>, program director and morning host, KFKF Kansas City, told Billboard<\/em><\/a> in June 2022 while reflecting back on the moment. \u201cKFKF is a very patriotic radio station, and the calls came in immediately: \u2018Get that off the air.\u2019 At the time, there were nine titles of theirs that were testing for gold [in our rotation], so it took a large bite out of our library.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n![\"11](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/11-Most-Empowering-Country-Music-Anthems-by-Female-Artists.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2000px%2C1131px&resize=400%2C225&quality=40&strip=all\")
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Most Empowering Country Music Anthems by Female Artists<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tIt\u2019s a woman\u2019s world! Carrie Underwood, Mickey Guyton and more women in country music have inspired listeners with their empowering lyrics. While Guyton\u2019s breakout album was released in 2021, she\u2019s been on the scene for 10 years. Remember Her Name was nominated for Best Country Album at the 64th annual Grammy Awards and its title [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Mitch Mahan<\/strong>, who was program director at WIRK in West Palm Beach at the time, told the outlet that their station was simply listening to \u201cwhat listeners [wanted]\u201d when they decided to pull The Chicks from the airwaves. \u201cAnd they were telling us they don\u2019t want the Dixie Chicks,\u201d he claimed. \u201cAny business where you\u2019ve got a product that\u2019s extremely popular, and then one day it\u2019s making everybody ill, well, you pull that product from your shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ve heard the conspiracy theories that we banned the Dixie Chicks,\u201d he continued. \u201cNo, we didn\u2019t. The audience just didn\u2019t want to hear them anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two days after Maines\u2019 remarks made headlines, she publicly apologized to the president. \u201cAs a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful,\u201d she said in a statement shared via The Chicks\u2019 website. \u201cI feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers\u2019 lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the apology, the Chicks continued to receive backlash from the country music scene. Toby Keith<\/strong>, who released \u201cCourtesy of Red, White and Blue (the Angry American)\u201d inspired by the victims of 9\/11, displayed Maines\u2019 photo next to an image of Saddam Hussein<\/strong> at his concerts. The Chicks, for their part, responded by posing nude on the cover of Entertainment Weekly<\/em> <\/a>while covered in graffiti phrases that included \u201cbig mouth\u201d and \u201ctraitors.\u201d Maines later sported a T-shirt with the letters \u201cFUTK\u201d on stage at the 2003 ACM Awards, with many believing the \u201cTK\u201d stood for Keith\u2019s initials.<\/p>\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/GettyImages-88207329.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all\")
<\/div>SGranitz\/WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAlthough country music pushed back against The Chicks, they sold almost 900,000 tickets in the first weekend of their 2003 tour. Months later, they were declared Billboard\u2019<\/em>s top-selling country artist. Their seventh album, Taking The Long Way<\/em>, was released in 2006 and sold 526,000 copies in its first full week, earning them five Grammys.<\/p>\nSince that fateful 2003 day, The Chicks have continued to be vocal<\/a> about their political views. In 2020, the trio sang the National Anthem during the 2020 Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n\u201cI think we were one of the first people to feel that \u2018cancel culture\u2019 and I think, you know, what we said \u2014 or, what I said \u2014 back then would not even be a thing today because it was really mild compared to what people say today,\u201d Maines said during a 2020 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen<\/em><\/a>. \u201cOn one hand, everyone has this forum where they can say whatever they want to say, but on the other hand this platform can move really quickly and ruin people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\nWhile speaking with Allure<\/em><\/a> later that year, Maines recalled how shocked she and her bandmates were that fellow country musicians were so quick to ostracize her and her bandmates at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
\u201cWhen we started doing this music, I liked the people in our industry. We always waved that country flag when people would say it wasn\u2019t cool. And then to see how quickly the entire industry turned on us,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted the audience to know<\/a> who we were and what we were about. I do not like when artists get on their soapbox \u2014 it\u2019s not what people are there for; they\u2019re there to listen to your music \u2014 [but] the politics of this band is inseparable from the music.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cI feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the US and alienating the rest of the world. My comments were made in frustration and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n
The explanation did little in the moment, and country music stations throughout the United States began pulling The Chicks\u2019 music amid listener complaints and allegations of \u201cAnti-American\u201d rhetoric.\u00a0 In Kansas City, a party called the \u201cChicken Toss\u201d was allegedly by a radio station, where fans would trash the band\u2019s tapes, CDs and concert tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cKansas City is definitely the heart of the Midwest,\u201d Dale Carter<\/strong>, program director and morning host, KFKF Kansas City, told Billboard<\/em><\/a> in June 2022 while reflecting back on the moment. \u201cKFKF is a very patriotic radio station, and the calls came in immediately: \u2018Get that off the air.\u2019 At the time, there were nine titles of theirs that were testing for gold [in our rotation], so it took a large bite out of our library.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tIt\u2019s a woman\u2019s world! Carrie Underwood, Mickey Guyton and more women in country music have inspired listeners with their empowering lyrics. While Guyton\u2019s breakout album was released in 2021, she\u2019s been on the scene for 10 years. Remember Her Name was nominated for Best Country Album at the 64th annual Grammy Awards and its title [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mitch Mahan<\/strong>, who was program director at WIRK in West Palm Beach at the time, told the outlet that their station was simply listening to \u201cwhat listeners [wanted]\u201d when they decided to pull The Chicks from the airwaves. \u201cAnd they were telling us they don\u2019t want the Dixie Chicks,\u201d he claimed. \u201cAny business where you\u2019ve got a product that\u2019s extremely popular, and then one day it\u2019s making everybody ill, well, you pull that product from your shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard the conspiracy theories that we banned the Dixie Chicks,\u201d he continued. \u201cNo, we didn\u2019t. The audience just didn\u2019t want to hear them anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Two days after Maines\u2019 remarks made headlines, she publicly apologized to the president. \u201cAs a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful,\u201d she said in a statement shared via The Chicks\u2019 website. \u201cI feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers\u2019 lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the apology, the Chicks continued to receive backlash from the country music scene. Toby Keith<\/strong>, who released \u201cCourtesy of Red, White and Blue (the Angry American)\u201d inspired by the victims of 9\/11, displayed Maines\u2019 photo next to an image of Saddam Hussein<\/strong> at his concerts. The Chicks, for their part, responded by posing nude on the cover of Entertainment Weekly<\/em> <\/a>while covered in graffiti phrases that included \u201cbig mouth\u201d and \u201ctraitors.\u201d Maines later sported a T-shirt with the letters \u201cFUTK\u201d on stage at the 2003 ACM Awards, with many believing the \u201cTK\u201d stood for Keith\u2019s initials.<\/p>\n Although country music pushed back against The Chicks, they sold almost 900,000 tickets in the first weekend of their 2003 tour. Months later, they were declared Billboard\u2019<\/em>s top-selling country artist. Their seventh album, Taking The Long Way<\/em>, was released in 2006 and sold 526,000 copies in its first full week, earning them five Grammys.<\/p>\n Since that fateful 2003 day, The Chicks have continued to be vocal<\/a> about their political views. In 2020, the trio sang the National Anthem during the 2020 Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we were one of the first people to feel that \u2018cancel culture\u2019 and I think, you know, what we said \u2014 or, what I said \u2014 back then would not even be a thing today because it was really mild compared to what people say today,\u201d Maines said during a 2020 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen<\/em><\/a>. \u201cOn one hand, everyone has this forum where they can say whatever they want to say, but on the other hand this platform can move really quickly and ruin people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n While speaking with Allure<\/em><\/a> later that year, Maines recalled how shocked she and her bandmates were that fellow country musicians were so quick to ostracize her and her bandmates at the time.<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u201cWhen we started doing this music, I liked the people in our industry. We always waved that country flag when people would say it wasn\u2019t cool. And then to see how quickly the entire industry turned on us,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted the audience to know<\/a> who we were and what we were about. I do not like when artists get on their soapbox \u2014 it\u2019s not what people are there for; they\u2019re there to listen to your music \u2014 [but] the politics of this band is inseparable from the music.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Most Empowering Country Music Anthems by Female Artists<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>Thank You!<\/h3>\n
![\"Country](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Maren-Morris-Kelsea-Ballerini-vs.-Morgan-Wallen-Country-Musics-Biggest-Feuds2.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2000px%2C1131px&resize=400%2C225&quality=40&strip=all\")
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n