The Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines has never been afraid to speak up when it comes to music or politics, and now the 12-time Grammy winner has issued a sharply worded criticism against President Trump.
In a new Instagram post, Maines wrote, “Our democracy is disappearing right before our eyes. This fugly slut is using your gas money to pay the insurrectionists. But don’t worry about it. I’m sure posting selfies will fix everything. My last post that called him a fugly slut got removed. We’ll see how long this one lasts. Repost and help this message live. Named 1M times in the #epsteinfiles.” Maines also included more hashtags: #democracy, #freespeech and, to cap it off, #fuglyslut.
The post also included a photo of Trump, as well as photos of people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol.
Back in 2003, The Chicks (then The Dixie Chicks) received backlash after Maines spoke out against President George W. Bush during one of the trio’s concerts in London just prior to the launch of the Iraq War. During that show, Maines said, “We do not want this war, this violence and we’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.”
At the time, their single “Travelin’ Soldier” had reached the pinnacle of Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart, but two weeks after Maines’ comments, enough radio stations had pulled the record from their rotations that the song was no longer in the top 40 on the Hot Country Songs/Country Airplay chart.
In 2006, The Chicks released the song “Not Ready to Make Nice,” which addressed the political controversy, and issued their album Taking the Long Way, which found support from audiences and Grammy voters, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and winning Grammys for album of the year and best country album, while “Not Ready to Make Nice” earned Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and best country performance by a duo or group with vocals.
In 2020, the trio rebranded as The Chicks and released the song “March, March,” as well as the album Gaslighter. In 2022, they launched The Chicks Tour, with openers including Patty Griffin, Maren Morris, Ben Harper and Elle King.
