The Chicks Return: 20 Years Later, They're Still Not Ready to Back Down

Two decades have passed since The Chicks released Taking the Long Way, but the wounds from what came before haven’t fully scarred over—and frankly, the band seems to prefer it that way. This fall, they’re hitting the road for a 16-show anniversary tour that feels less like a victory lap and more like a reclamation: intimate theater venues across the country, starting in Detroit on September 30 and closing with back-to-back nights at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

It’s worth remembering what Taking the Long Way actually meant. Released in 2006, the album became a cultural flashpoint for a band that had been nearly erased from country radio just three years earlier. The story everyone knows: In 2003, lead singer Natalie Maines said she was ashamed that President George W. Bush was from Texas and denounced the Iraq War. Country radio pulled their songs. Fans destroyed their CDs. The industry turned its back.

Taking the Long Way wasn’t a apology or an attempt to smooth things over. It was a middle finger wrapped in five Grammy Awards. The album hit Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 and spawned Not Ready to Make Nice, a defiant anthem that proved The Chicks weren’t interested in making peace with people who’d tried to silence them. They won Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year—validation that came not from the gatekeepers who’d blacklisted them, but from the Recording Academy and, implicitly, from listeners who understood what was at stake.

The tour announcement comes at a moment when The Chicks are still using their platform to speak plainly about power and consequence. Just last week, Natalie Maines called Donald Trump a fugly slut for establishing what she characterized as a slush fund for supporters with U.S. tax dollars. It’s the same uncompromising voice that got them thrown out of country music in the first place—and it suggests they have zero interest in playing it safe now.

The choice of venues is worth noting. These aren’t arena shows designed to maximize revenue. They’re theaters—places where the band and their audience can actually see each other, where the intimacy matters. Ticket presales start June 3 at 10 a.m., with general sale on June 4 at 10 a.m. local time. For fans who’ve been waiting two decades to hear these songs live without apology, that’s worth marking your calendar.