Dixie Chicks to Reunite for European Tour

Dixie Chicks, the best-selling female band of all-time, will return to the concert stage in 2016, and stateside fans who want to catch the trio will need to have their passports in order. Singer Natalie Maines, guitarist Emily Robison Strayer and fiddle player Martie Maguire announced on their website that they'll embark on a European tour in 2016.

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"Superstars, renegades, innovators, heroes, villains, and moms – for over a decade, the Dixie Chicks have grown from a band into a phenomenon, with over 30 million albums sold," the post begins, followed by a list of destinations on the upcoming trek. "Starting in Amsterdam, the tour will then head to the UK and Ireland to play arenas in Birmingham, Manchester, London, Glasgow, and will culminate in Dublin."

The Amsterdam date, at Heineken Music Hall, takes place April 20th and the tour concludes in the Republic of Ireland's capital city on May 4th. The Grammy-winning group's London date, on May 1st, will take place at the O2 Arena, about 13 miles east of the O2 Empire in Shepherd's Bush, the site of Maines' infamous 2003 declaration in protest of then-President Bush and the impending Iraq War. In 2006, they returned to what Maines called "the scene of the crime," where she repeated the headline-grabbing quote that included the incendiary line, "We're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas," which received a thunderous ovation from the crowd and swift retribution in their home state and beyond. Maines' comments were included in the band's 2006 documentary, Shut Up and Sing.

Since Maines' statement was met with a widespread boycott of their music at country radio, the Chicks have since only released one new album, 2006's Taking the Long Way, which earned them five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year. They toured with the Eagles in 2010, the same year Maguire and Strayer formed the Court Yard Hounds duo. Each year since then, they have played a few select dates as a group, with Maines releasing her solo rock LP, Mother, in May 2013. Court Yard Hounds released their second album, Amelita, two months later. From October 2013 to March 2014, they traveled North America and Europe on the Long Time Gone Tour.

On Saturday, June 20th, Strayer will be among the acts performing at the #Austin4Wimberley Flood Relief Benefit in Austin. Proceeds from the event will benefit victims of the widespread flooding and tornadoes that devastated the area last month. Tickets, including VIP packages, are available here.

Source: Dixie Chicks to Reunite for European Tour