The Dixie Chicks have changed their name and ditched ‘Dixie’ due to racial connotations from the past.
While revealing the news of their latest single, March March, singers Natalie Maines, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire confirmed the news that they are now to be known as The Chicks.
“We want to meet the moment,” the band said on its website, without further explanation.
US journalist Jeremy Helligar had recently said the word Dixie related to the slavery era of America.
He said: “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.”
The group have officially changed their name following the Black Lives Matter movement (Image: WireImage)
A statement released by the 13 times Grammy Award-winning group said: “A sincere and heartfelt thank you goes out to The Chicks of NZ 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 updated their respective social media accounts, website and YouTube channel with their new name.
The 13 times Grammy winners announced the news along with their latest single, March March (Image: Getty Images)
The Chicks’ latest record, March March, appears to feature footage from Black Lives Matter and LGBT protests, images of Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, and lyrics addressing power, silence and voting.
The Chicks’ career was almost derailed when they publicly denounced former US president George W Bush before the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Chicks are the latest names in Hollywood to review their brand (Image: REUTERS)
Maines said they were “ashamed” of Mr Bush, leading to a boycott of their music.
The Texan trio follows the likes of American pop group Lady Antebellum who revealed earlier this month they too had changed their name due to the connotations surrounding Antebellum.
Antebellum means before the war and the term has been widely associated with the pre-Civil War period in the United States when slavery was practised.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
