Open Wide

After the commercial success of their first two albums, the band became involved in a dispute with their record label, Sony , regarding accounting procedures, alleging that in at least 30 cases Sony had used fraudulent accounting practices, underpaying them at least $4 million (£2.7m) in royalties on their albums over the previous three years. Sony held out, and the trio walked away, with Sony suing the group for failure to complete their contract. The Dixie Chicks responded with their own $4.1-million lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment on August 27, which added clout to claims made by singers Courtney Love , Aimee Mann , and LeAnn Rimes against the recording industry. After months of negotiation, the Dixie Chicks settled their suit privately, and were awarded their own record label imprint, Open Wide Records, which afforded them more control, a better contract, and an increase in royalty payments , with Sony still responsible for marketing and distribution of albums. Also in 2001, Martie married Irish actor Gareth Maguire. During the time that they worked with Sony to reconcile their differences, the Dixie Chicks debuted their quiet, unadorned song "I Believe in Love" on the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon following the September 11 attacks . The three women found themselves home, in Texas, each happily married, planning families, and writing songs closer to their roots, without the usual pressures of the studio technicians from the major labels. The songs they didn't write were solicited from songwriters who wrote with a less commercial emphasis. The result was that Home , independently produced by Lloyd Maines and the Dixie Chicks, was released August 27, 2002. Maines and Martie co-wrote four of the album's twelve tracks. They collaborated with country singer-songwriter Marty Stuart on "I Believe in Love" and "Tortured, Tangled Hearts". Home was led off by a cover of Darrell Scott 's " Long Time Gone ", which charted at 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number two on the Hot Country Songs chart. It was followed by covers of Fleetwood Mac 's " Landslide " and Bruce Robison 's " Travelin' Soldier ", "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)" and " Top of the World ". Both "Landslide" and "Travelin' Soldier" peaked at number two and number one on Hot Country Songs, respectively. Approximately six million copies of Home were sold in the United States. Home also won Grammy awards, and other noteworthy accolades as before, though it fell short of reaching the diamond record status of the first two albums. Natalie Maines said afterward, "I want to check the record books and see how many fathers and daughters have won Grammys together." By 2002, the Dixie Chicks were featured on three television specials: An Evening with the Dixie Chicks , which was an acoustic concert primarily composed of the material from Home ; VH1 Divas Las Vegas alongside Cher , Céline Dion , Shakira , Anastacia , Stevie Nicks , Mary J. Blige , Cyndi Lauper , Whitney Houston and host Ellen DeGeneres ; and a CMT three-hour television special, the 40 Greatest Women of Country Music . Ranked No. 13 out of 40, they were "selected by hundreds of artists, music historians, music journalists and music industry professionals—looking at every aspect of what a great artist is".

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