The Chicks hit the stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention on Thursday night (Aug. 22) to play “The Star Spangled Banner,” on the fourth and final day of the DNC at Chicago’s United Center before a crowd fired up and waiting for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris to speak.
Introduced as the winners of 13 Grammy Awards and the “biggest-selling U.S. female group of all time,” the trio — Natalie Maines and sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire — walked out, clad in muted gray and black outfits, and said not a word before delivered a stunning a cappella version of the anthem filled with intricate, layered harmonies. With beaming grins and waves, they left the stage.
The trio plugged their performance on their X account a few hours before, reminding followers to “Use your voice. Use your vote.”
This wasn’t The Chicks’ first DNC appearance: The country trio also performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” at 2020’s virtual Democratic National Convention in support of President Biden’s nomination. For that livestream performance, The Chicks could be seen in a three-way split screen, beautifully harmonizing on the national anthem.
It was more than 20 years ago, in 2003, when The Chicks — then known as the Dixie Chicks — were blasted by conservatives after Maines said from a London stage that the band was ashamed to be from the same state as then-President George W. Bush for his role in the U.S. war with Iraq. The backlash was fast and furious, with some radio stations pulling their music and the group retreating from the country music community. The group released the pointed “Not Ready to Make Nice” in 2006, with the song taking home the Grammy for song and record of the year in 2007. While they toured fairly regularly, the band did not release a new album until 2020’s Gaslighter.
The country and Americana genres was well-represented throughout the week, with Mickey Guyton and Jason Isbell both performing on Monday night’s day 1 and Maren Morris playing on Wednesday’s day 3.
