Dixie Chicks: 5 things you need to know

Tammy Perez / FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Dixie Chicks. A-List photos of the KLRU All-Star Celebration at ACL Live on

Credit: Tammy Perez FOR AMERICAN-STATESM

Credit: Tammy Perez FOR AMERICAN-STATESM

Tammy Perez / FOR AMERICAN-STATESMAN. Dixie Chicks. A-List photos of the KLRU All-Star Celebration at ACL Live on

The Dixie Chicks are traveling across the U.S. for their 2016 tour, which starts Wednesday in Cincinnati at the Riverbend Music Center.

Special guests who will be joining the female trio throughout the DCX MMXVI World Tour include Augustana, Josh Herbert, The Heavy, Anderson East, Smooth Hound Smith, Vintage Trouble, and Elle King.

Tickets are still available through their website for the Cincinnati show.

The Dixie Chicks are the biggest selling female band of all time in the U.S. with 30 million albums sold.

Before the Chicks rock Riverbend, here are 5 things you should know about them:

Band’s beginning

The Dixie Chicks were founded in 1989 and around that time, members were coming and going. Three albums were recorded before the current lead singer, Natalie Maines, joined the band and they released their breakthrough album Wide Open Spaces. Wide Open Spaces and their follow-up album Fly brought the group commercial success and multiple awards.

Accomplishments and awards

This trio has had major success in their careers with over $100 million worth of concert tickets sold and they’ve been a multi-platinum selling act in North America, Europe and Australia. They are also among the select few to have multiple albums achieving “diamond” status, (diamond meaning more than 10 million copies were sold). Collectively, the Dixie Chicks have won 13 Grammy awards.

Controversial comment

In 2003, during a concert in London, lead singer Maines made a critical comment about then-President George W. Bush. Afterward, the band lost sponsorships, support from radio stations, and even received death threats. This prompted them to write and record the song "Not Ready To Make Nice," which Rolling Stone magazine later named the 77th best song of the decade.

The Dixie Chicks’ collection

27 years later, the Dixie Chicks have made quite a collection of music. They have a total of seven studio albums, two compilation albums, one live album, three video albums, 14 music videos, 25 singles, and six No. 1 singles.

Looking ahead

The current DCX MMXVI World Tour will take them to more than 40 cities in the U.S. and Canada  through the summer and into October. There will be three more stops in Ohio on this tour including Cuyahoga Falls, Columbus and Toledo.

Sources: dixiechicks.com, Wikipedia

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