Dixie Chick Regrets Choice of Words
Fri Apr 25,10:53 AM ET
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Dixie Chicks (news - web sites) lead singer Natalie Maines (news) said she spoke against President Bush (news - web sites) and the war with Iraq (news - web sites) last month out of frustration and regrets her choice of words, but not that she spoke out about how she felt.
"I'm not truly embarrassed that President Bush is from my state, that's not really what I care about," Maines said in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer for "Primetime Thursday."
"It was the wrong wording with genuine emotion and questions and concern behind it. ... Am I sorry that I asked questions and that I just don't follow? No."
At a March 10 concert in London, Maines told the audience in reference to Bush's push for military action against Iraq: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
Maines and the Texas-based trio's other members — Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, who are sisters — also told Sawyer the fallout was too harsh for the offense and they've always supported U.S. troops even though they questioned the war.
"I feel me speaking out is the most patriotic thing I can do," Maines said. "People have died to give you this right and I'm using it."
The interview aired a week before they began their U.S. tour May 1 in Greenville, S.C., and they appear nude on the May 2 issue of Entertainment Weekly, with epithets such as "Traitors" written on their bodies.
After Maines' remarks, radio stations began boycotting the Dixie Chicks, even though she publicly apologized for her statement in London.
The song "Travelin' Soldier," which was No. 1 on Billboard's country charts around the time Maines made the remark, tumbled completely off the charts afterward. And sales of the group's latest CD, "Home," plummeted, although sales have rebounded slightly, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales.
Even with the slide, however, "Home" remains the top-selling album on the Billboard country chart — 19 weeks at No. 1 — and No. 30 on the pop chart.
story.news.yahoo.com
They seemed bewildered that the whole thing was hitting them directly in the wallet. They sobbed towards the end of the interview. |
