New name lifts weight off Chicks
When The Chicks decided to drop the word “Dixie” from the band’s name last month, it was the culmination of years of internal discussions and attempts to distance itself from negative connotations with the word.
The band was formed in the late 1980s as a bluegrass band. It started getting requests for bookings and needed a name. “That Little Feat song, ‘Dixie Chicken,’ came on the radio. And so we were the Dixie Chickens for like maybe six months,” Emily Strayer said. It got shortened to just “Chicks.”
The band released three independent albums before Natalie Maines became the lead singer. The band signed a deal with Sony and again, members questioned whether to continue as The Dixie Chicks. As the years progressed, the more they tried to distance themselves from the word. They started calling themselves The Chicks on merchandise, and on their last tours, they referred to themselves as DCX.
The band saw how George Floyd’s death led many to reevaluate associations with racist symbols, like the Confederate flag, sometimes called the rebel flag or the Dixie flag.
“I think the sort of now moment for me was when NASCAR banned the Dixie flag,” said Maines. “It just struck me as, ‘OK, we’re doing this now. No more overthinking. No more hesitation. Now is the time.’ ”
The band feels like a weight has been lifted with the new name. “I think one of the words we kept using was relieved,” said Martie Maguire.
Zendaya, Washington make movie in quarantine: A new movie starring Zendaya and John David Washington was filmed amid the pandemic. On Wednesday, Zendaya shared a still from the film, “Malcolm & Marie,” which sees her character gazing into the eyes of Washington’s. According to Deadline, the project was shot by Sam Levinson between June 17 and July 2 at California’s Caterpillar House.
During the shoot, no more than a dozen people were allowed on set. The actors were in charge of costuming and attaching microphones to themselves, only interacting with crew members wearing protective equipment.
While plot details are scarce, Deadline reports that the film “has some echoes of Netflix’s ‘Marriage Story.’ ”
‘The Crown’ to have sixth season: Netflix, which said in January that its hit series “The Crown” would run only five seasons, announced Thursday that the story of Britain’s royal family would include a sixth season. But it won’t cover more royal ground than planned. “As we started to discuss the story lines ... it soon became clear that in order to do justice to the richness and complexity of the story, we should go back to the original plan and do six seasons,” creator Peter Morgan said in a statement.
July 11 birthdays: Ventriloquist Jay Johnson is 71. Actress Sela Ward is 64. Saxophonist Kirk Whalum is 62. Guitarist Richie Sambora is 61. Actress Lisa Rinna is 57. Wildlife expert Jeff Corwin is 53. Actor Justin Chambers is 50. Rapper Lil’ Kim is 46. Rapper Lil’ Zane is 39. Actor Connor Paolo is 30. Singer Alessia Cara is 24.