Dixie Chicks drop the Dixie from their name

The Dixie Chicks have dropped the Dixie — and a very political new song.

The country trio is incredibly familiar with controversy, given that their criticism of former President George W. Bush and the Iraq War led to a very long pause in their careers back in the early 2000's. But they had no problem treading back into that territory on Thursday, with the release of song that touts a whole bunch of progressive causes and a big change to their name.

The Dixie Chicks' social media accounts were all renamed to simply The Chicks on Thursday, and a music video for their new single March March concludes with a signoff from The Chicks. The video meanwhile makes it clear what the group stands for: Lyrics fighting for climate change action, footage from recent Black Lives Matter protests, and even some cheeky shots from a demonstration against the Iraq war make an appearance.

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The move follows country group Lady Antebellum's rebrand as Lady A. But unlike them, The Chicks were sure to get permission to share their name with a New Zealand band, Pitchfork reports. Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede meanwhile dropped the "Dixie" in its name in 2018, as the term referring to the south gained popularity from a racist minstrel song.