14/02/07 - The Dixie Chicks Clean Up At The Grammys

By Tim Holland

The Dixie Chicks' roller coaster ride appears to have ended in triumph. In a major slap in the face to US President George Bush, the band took out five Grammys last week. Their controversial track Not Ready to Make Nice (which incidentally continues to be one of the most requested tracks on pop station 2DAY FM) took home wins for the band in the overall Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories.

Taking the Long Way also won best country album honours against the likes of Alan Jackson, Little Big Town, Willie Nelson and Josh Turner. Not Ready to Make Nice also won in the best country performance by a duo or group with vocal catagory.

It would be fair to say that these wins in Los Angeles demonstrate the music industry's respect the band in continuing on and sticking to their guns following Natalie Maines’ criticism of President Bush during a concert in London in 2003 when the U.S. was on the verge of the war in Iraq. "I think people are using their freedom of speech here tonight with all of these awards," Maines said in accepting the album of the year nod. "We get the message. There's a lot of awesome music this year and fantastic performances. I'm very humbled. I think people were using their voice the same way this loudmouth did."

Keith Urban was unable to defend his Best Country Performance by a Male Artist crown, losing out to friend Vince Gill and his song These Days.