And yet, their refusal to apologize may have also been the thing that sealed their legacy. When reading the comments of younger female country artists who grew up listening to the Dixie Chicks, it’s impossible to ignore how often phrases like “be yourself” come up. Country duo Maddie & Tae told The New York Times “ The Dixie Chicks encouraged us all to unapologetically be who we are ” in 2016. And in 2018, Miranda Lambert said, “ I want to be the Dixie Chicks for this next generation . To put it simply, I want to write and make music that moves people, to give them freedom to be who they are.” And there is Dixie Chicks Stan-In-Chief Taylor Swift, who brought Maines on stage at a 2015 Los Angeles concert and said, “If not for this woman and her band, I would not have known that you can be quirky and fun and yourself and outspoken and brave and real.” Who knows how we’d be thinking of the Dixie Chicks today if they’d given in and apologized — or if we’d be thinking of them at all.