UPDATE: 12/23, 7 p.m. ET — Current members of The Chicks, Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, released a statement after learning of Laura Lynch’s sudden death.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Laura Lynch, a founding member of The Chicks,” they wrote via Instagram on Saturday, December 23. “We hold a special place in our hearts for the time we spent playing music, laughing and traveling together. Laura was a bright light…her infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band. Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the early success of the band. Her undeniable talents helped propel us beyond busking on street corners to stages all across Texas and the mid-West. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones at this sad time.”
Original story:
Founding member of The Chicks Laura Lynch died on Friday, December 22, after a car accident. She was 65.
Laura’s cousin Mick Lynch confirmed to TMZ on Saturday, December 23, that she had died one day earlier outside El Paso, Texas. According to Mick, Laura was driving on a highway when her vehicle was involved in a head-on collision.
Texas law enforcement officials later told TMZ that Laura’s car was hit after the anonymous driver attempted to pass in front of another car in the lane. Laura was pronounced dead on the scene. Further details surrounding her death have not been shared.
In addition to her cousin, Laura is survived by her husband, Mac Tull, and their daughter, Asia.
Laura rose to fame as one of the founding members of The Dixie Chicks, which shortened its name in 2020, alongside Robin Lynn Macy, Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. The foursome founded their bluegrass-country band in 1989, with Laura playing upright bass and performing as lead vocalist. Macy, now 62, left the band in 1992, with Laura following three years later in 1995.
Siblings Maguire, now 54, and Strayer, now 51, replaced Laura as lead singer with Natalie Maines. (Natalie is the daughter of The Chicks’ original guitarist, Lloyd Maines.)
“We knew we were taking a big risk changing lead singers,” Strayer told D Magazine in February 1996. “We could end up losing it all. ”
Dixie Chicks Paul Natkin/WireImage
As a trio, The Chicks have released six albums and won 13 Grammy Awards.
Amid the Black Lives Matter movement in June 2020, country fans rallied the band to change their name due to the associations of the word “dixie” with the confederacy.
“We want to meet this moment,” the musicians wrote in a statement on their website at the time, noting they were dropping “Dixie” from their moniker.
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Two years later, Natalie, now 49, elaborated on their decision.
“We’d wanted to get rid of the ‘Dixie’ part of our name for a long time, but it seemed like a huge thing to do,” Natalie said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in August 2022. “So we would call, you know, our merch would say ‘DCX,’ and we always referred to ourselves as ‘The Chicks.’ So it seemed like a really natural change, and it seemed kind of seamless.”
She added at the time: “I always thought [‘dixie’] was a region [that was] south of the Mason-Dixon line.”
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After Laura left The Chicks, she primarily resided in Texas with her family. According to a May 2003 interview with the Plainview Herald, Laura and her former bandmates agreed not to publicly discuss her departure.
“It was worth it, I’d get anemic all over again to do it,” Laura added to the newspaper, noting she has no regrets from her time in The Chicks.
