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| Birth Name(s) : Natalie Maines |
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Full Natalie Maines Biography
Natalie Louise Maines Pasdar (born October 14, 1974) is an American singer and songwriter who achieved success as the lead vocalist for the female country rock band Dixie Chicks. Born in Lubbock, Texas, Maines considers herself a rebel who "loved not thinking in the way I knew the majority of people thought."
Following the completion of high school, Maines attended several colleges. She spent two semesters pursuing an undeclared major at West Texas A&M where her studies focused heavily on radio, then a year and a half at South Plains College. One of Maines' instructors at South Plains, and a former member of The Maines Brothers Band, Cary Banks, recalled "She was mostly into rock'n'roll, rhythm and blues... alternative rock." When Banks encountered Maines on campus, he said that she usually needed to vent a little steam. "She would get into a lot of political arguments" at the predominantly Republican school, and was a fan of Democratic Texas Governor Ann Richards. "She's always been opinionated and hardheaded like her dad." In December 1994, Maines auditioned for and received a vocal scholarship to Berklee College of Music. She pursued the diploma program at Berklee and left upon completion of her studies. Even though Maines is from Lubbock, home of Texas Tech University, she attended only one class at the school, a 1995 summer course entitled "Introductory Wildlife."
Maines' first commercially released work was background vocals on Pat Green's debut album, Dancehall Dreamer, produced by her father Lloyd Maines, was released in 1995. At the end of that year, at the age of 21, Maines joined the all-female country music band, the Dixie Chicks which had been performing since 1989, but which had been unsuccessful in gaining more than local attention. Maines replaced founding lead singer Laura Lynch, and also plays a variety of different guitars for the band.
Maines publicly criticized Keith's song "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue" in saying, "I hate it. It's ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture - and not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact. Anybody can write, 'We'll put a boot in your ass'..." Keith responded by belittling Maines' songwriting skills: "I'll bury her. She has never written anything that has been a hit..." and "That's what I do -- I write songs..." Keith further stated, "...she said anyone can write 'We'll put a boot in your ass', but, you know...she didn't."
In the 2006 documentary Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing, Maines confirmed that the F.U.T.K. shirt was, in fact, a shot at Keith in response to his criticism of her; the acronym standing for Fuck You Toby Keith. As of January 2007, Keith continues to refuse to say Maines' name and argues that the doctored photo was intended to express his feeling that Maines' criticism was tyrannical and a dictator-like attempt to squelch Keith's free speech.
During the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq ordered by U.S. President George W. Bush, the Dixie Chicks performed on March 10, 2003 at Shepherd's Bush Empire theatre in London, the first concert stop on their Top of the World Tour. Prior to performing their song "Travelin' Soldier", the band gave an introductory monologue during which Maines said:“Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.”
On March 12, the Dixie Chicks website posted a statement that read, "We've been overseas for several weeks and have been reading and following the news accounts of our government's position. The anti-American sentiment that has unfolded here is astounding..." Maines added to the statement, "I feel the president is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world...My comments were made in frustration and one of the privileges of being an American is you are free to voice your own point of view...While we support our troops, there is nothing more frightening than the notion of going to war with Iraq and the prospect of all the innocent lives that will be lost."
At the first US concert after Maines' comment, she is quoted as saying from the stage, "They told me that you may not come, but I knew you'd come because we have the greatest fans in the whole wide world." Despite fan turnout at concerts, the Dixie Chicks began receiving death threats as circulation of the comment increased. Subsequently, security was heightened at all concert venues and metal detectors were installed where possible. A death threat directed at Maines was received prior to the Chicks' July 6, 2003 concert in Dallas, Texas. Maines described the threat as "...scary because...it wasn't just somebody wanting to write a hate letter...It was somebody who obviously thought they had a plan." Security was heightened for the trip to and from the concert venue as well as at the arena. |
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