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The Dixie Chicks have become the latest band to undergo a name change due to potentially racist connotations, now going by The Chicks.
The band released a short statement on their website regarding the name change.
“We want to meet this moment.”
As per a press release, the band also said, “A sincere and heartfelt thank you goes out to ‘The Chicks’ of [New Zealand] for their gracious gesture in allowing us to share their name. We are honoured to co-exist together in the world with these exceptionally talented sisters. Chicks Rock!”
They have since changed their social media handles to reflect the name change.
Jeremy Helligar wrote for Variety that the word ‘Dixie’ has connotations anchored in the slavery era of America, saying, “‘Dixie,’ for the record, is the epitome of white America, a celebration of a Southern tradition that is indivisible from Black slaves and those grand plantations where they were forced to toil for free.”
In addition to the name change, the band have also released their new single ‘March, March’, which is fittingly a protest song. Listen to it below.
‘March, March’ is the third cut we’ve heard from the band’s forthcoming album ‘Gaslighter’ set for release next month. It follows the release of the title track and ‘Julianna Calm Down’.
The name change of the band also follows that of Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, who changed their name for similar reasons.
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