Natalie Maines isn’t one to keep her opinions to herself. The Dixie Chicks were riding high in country music until Maines made some political statements that backfired beyond measure with their core audience at the time. The Chicks kept making music, and they do make excellent music, but without the hyper-success they were enjoying before the comments.

Like it or lump it, Natalie Maines speaks her mind, but this time, it’s not going to just affect album sales, it may land her in court. Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of one of three boys murdered in 1993, is suing Maines, and to a lesser extent Martie Maguire and Emily Robison (the other two Dixie Chicks), for defamation after Maines spoke out about the murders. Maines, and others, said the 3 men who were convicted were railroaded and that evidence showed Hobbs was actually involved in the crimes.

Terry Hobbs, stepfather of Steve Branch, who was killed in 1993 with Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Nov. 25. The suit names all three members of the Dixie Chicks, but focuses on Maines.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Hobbs claims he suffered loss of income, injury to his reputation and emotional distress.

Maines attended a Dec. 19 rally in Little Rock, where she claimed Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols and Jessie Misskelley — known to sympathizers as the “West Memphis Three” — were innocent and that supposed new evidence pointed to Hobbs. Her comments echoed a Nov. 26, 2007, letter that was still on the Dixie Chicks’ Web site on Thursday, in which she claimed that new DNA testing of hair from the crime scene linked Hobbs to the killings and that his behavior after the slayings indicated his guilt.

The lawsuit says the claim is false.

Hobbs told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a Feb. 1 interview that his reputation was in tatters and he wanted to clear his name.

No lawyer for Maines was listed in court filings and a publicist didn’t immediately return a call for comment. Hobbs’ attorney, J. Cody Hiland, didn’t immediately return a call for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit says Maines’ statements were “so extreme in degree as to be beyond the pale of decency and to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society.”

Assertions similar to those made by Maines were also made by lawyers seeking new trials for the three convicts.

The boys’ bodies were found by police a day after they vanished from their quiet, tree-lined neighborhood May 5, 1993. Police arrested the three after a confession by Misskelley in which he described how he watched Baldwin and Echols sexually assault and beat two of the boys as he ran down another trying to escape. A jury gave Misskelley a life-plus-40-year sentence for the killings. A later jury gave Baldwin a life sentence without parole. Echols, then 19, the oldest of the three, received the death penalty.

The Arkansas Supreme Court later upheld the convictions, but a later documentary sparked interest across the Internet, as well as among celebrities, including Maines, who felt the teens were railroaded by police for their interest in heavy metal music and the occult. Supporters say they raised more than $1 million for a legal defense fund for the three, enough to pay for lawyers, new DNA testing and a second federal appeal on behalf of Echols.

A judge has since denied defense motions for a new trial.

[From AP via MSN Music]

It seems like this guy is suing Maines because she’s the most high profile person to accuse him of the crime, but she’s not the only one if there are rallies being held. No matter what new evidence is out there, Maines isn’t judge and jury and shouldn’t be accusing someone of guilt. She feels strongly about this though and isn’t letting go. We’ll have to see what happens in this case and if she owes this man any damages and/or if the convicted young men are eventually granted new trials.

Natalie Maines is shown on 6/12/08. Credit: PRPhotos

The Dixie Chicks took home five awards at last night’s Grammys, one in every category they were nominated for. They are said to be planning to break up now that the Grammys are over, as they want to slow down and spend more time with their families. People say that it shows that lead singer Natalie Maines’ outspoken opposition in the first stage of the war, while extremely controversial at the time, has been accepted. Now they’re being honored for their music instead of being bitch-slapped for their political views:

The Dixie Chicks won all five awards they were nominated for, sweet vindication after the superstars’ lives were threatened and sales plummeted when Maines criticized President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war in 2003. Almost overnight, one of the most successful groups of any genre was boycotted by Nashville and disappeared from country radio.

With “Taking the Long Way,” the women relied on producer Rick Rubin’s guidance for an album that was more rock and less country. (Rubin, who also produced “Stadium Arcadium,” was honored as producer of the year.)

The standing ovations the Chicks received Sunday illustrated how much the political climate has changed regarding the Iraq war, and even Bush.

“That’s interesting,” Maines crowed from the podium after the country award was handed out earlier in the night. “Well, to quote the great ‘Simpsons’ — ‘Heh-Heh.’

“Just kidding,” added Maines. “A lot of people just turned their TVs off right now. I’m very sorry for that.”

Bandmate Emily Robison noted, “We wouldn’t have done this album without everything we went through, so we have no regrets.”

Maybe they’ll see this as their high point and decide to call it quits, or it’s possible they’ll stay together now that all their hard work has been vindicated.

It sounds kind of stupid for Maines to use Nelson’s catchphrase like that, and it’s typical of her to blurt stuff out. At least she apologized afterwards, and maybe it didn’t come off like that at the Grammys. I totally agree with her about the war, and I did at the time she said it, but she still comes off as mouthy to me and kind of abrasive. Maybe that’s just the way the media portrayed her, but if she’s saying shit like “ha ha!” at the Grammys, they probably weren’t far off.

Pictures from Gossip Rocks.

The Dixie Chicks are planning to break up the band after the Grammy Awards in mid February of next year. At first I was going to report that two of the Dixie Chicks, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, are fed up with pint-sized lead singer Natalie Maines’ continued political outspokenness. If you read Star Magazine’s “insider quote,” though, they just say that they are all tired and want to spend more time with their families, and that everyone has dealt with the repercussions of Natalie’s statements. From interviews I’ve read with them, they seem like they all stand by each other, and I would bet they just need a break:

The controversial country superstars have secretly decided to split up after the Grammy Awards – because Emily Robison and Martie Maguire no longer want to share the nest with outspoken Natalie Maines, say sources.

“The Chicks are tired and wrung out,” said a group insider. “They feel they’ve come to the end, and they want a break from each other to spend more time with their families.”

The three women, who have seven children among them, are at odds over Natalie’s blunt political ramblings. And while sources say sisters Emily and Martie share many of Natalie’s anti-George W. Bush views, they feel her public rants have taken the focus off their music.

“They’ve supported many of her political beliefs, even though it’s put their lives and the lives of their families in jeopardy,” said the insider.

“They’ve received death threats, and it’s made them all nervous wrecks.”

That’s too bad, but they’ve had plenty of success since they were banned from some conservative airways in 2003. Their concert attendance went down as a result, but their latest album, “Taking the Long Way,” did well on the charts.

The Dixie Chicks have been together since 1989, and originally had two additional members along with Martie and Emily. Natalie Maines joined as lead singer in 1995.

They are nominated for quite a few Grammy Awards: Record of the Year (Not Ready To Make Nice), Album of the Year (Taking The Long Way), Song of the Year (Not Ready To Make Nice), Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (Not Ready To Make Nice), Best Country Album (Taking The Long Way), and Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical (Rick Rubin on Taking The Long Way.)

The Dixie Chicks have refused to appear on the dumb women’s roundtable talk show, “The View,” saying they have to be selective about the shows they choose. They mentioned “The View” specifically in an interview with Time Magazine, saying that they use Bruce Springsteen as their model for publicity choices, and that he would never appear on the show:

This pissed off “View” cohost Joy Behar so much that she ripped up the article on the air:

What a idiot Joy Behar is. She may be the token liberal on the show before Rosie joins, but she’s not acting like it. The Dixie Chicks are ahead of their time. They criticized George Bush back when it was taboo, but now everyone hates the murdering son of a bitch. We think their refusal to do “The View” is a harbinger of the shows demise, and that most of the cohosts will go on to fabulous careers as spokespeople on infomercials.

The Dixie Chicks aren’t too good for XM Satellite Radio. They are shown performing on May 23rd on “Artist Confidential” in the pictures below. They are also seen at Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People event on May 8th.