When the pandemic hit and lockdown was initiated, Stephen Colbert was forced to abandon the iconic Ed Sullivan Theater. His last guests scheduled to appear at the New York City landmark were the then-named Dixie Chicks, but they were understandably bumped in favor of CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. On Thursday night, the group now called just The Chicks were finally able to make up that missed appearance on The Late Show with a remote performance of āMarch Marchā and a discussion about their new moniker.
Asked why theyād chosen now to drop āDixieā from their name, lead singer Natalie Maines said a change was always in the works. āWell, itās because of everything thatās going on in the world. It was about time; weāve wanted to change it for a long time, actually,ā she explained. āWe started using āDCXā a lot and āThe Chicksā a lot whenever we could. We hoped it would catch on, but it didnāt. So, in the moment now, we just felt that it was right, and we didnāt even have to have much discussion about it. We just all wanted to do it right away, and so we did.ā Prior to settling on The Chicks, the group some considered some alternative options for names, includingĀ Puss in Boots and using their initials ā Martie, Emily, and Natalie ā to spell M.E.N.
The Chicks also touched upon the 2003 controversy around Mainesā comments surrounding President George W. Bushās invasion of Iraq, as well as their plans to tour behind their new comeback album,Ā Gaslighter.
While they canāt be on the road right now, they did promote their comeback album with a performance of the protest single āMarch Marchā. Written after the 2018 March for Our Lives youth protest against gun violence, the song still feels bone-chillingly relevant. The Chicks reflected its tense message with a shadowy black-and-white performance.
Replay both segments below. In addition, The Chicks have released the music video for āSleep at Nightā, which you can peep beneath the Colbert clips.
Gaslighter, The Chicksā first album in 14 years, is out now. Itās title track is already one of our favorite songs of the year.