Fans are mourning the loss of Laura Lynch, founder of the highly popular country-turned-pop music band, The Dixie Chicks, who is dead at 65.
Lynch, died in a head-on collision in Fort Worth Friday night, police said.
"Laura was a bright light...her infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band," the group said Saturday in a statement on the X social media platform.
"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."
Lynch formed the band in 1989 with Robin Lynn Macy, Martie Erwin, and Emily Erwin. She began as an upright bass player and later became its lead vocalist.
The group released its first album Thank Heavens for Dale Evans in 1990 and two more albums with Lynch -- Little Ol' Cowgirl in 1992 and Shouldn't a Told You That in 1993.
She left the band in 1993 and was replaced by singer and guitar player Natalie Maines.
The band enjoyed success even after Lynch's departure and started the crossover to a more sophisticated country music-pop act almost right away.
The new lineup featuring Maines released the album Wide Open Spaces in 1998, which sold more than 12 million copies in the United States. It was named Best Country Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards ceremony. "There's Your Trouble" won the Grammy for Best Country Group Vocal Performance.
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With toe-tapping tunes and catchy, bold lyrics, The Dixie Chicks' versatility attracted fans from outside country music, even venturing past pop into soft rock.
Maines put the band squarely in the spotlight when, in 2003 during the buildup to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, declared she was ashamed that President George W. Bush was from her native Texas.
She received death threats from her detractors and supporters of the Bush administration's stance on the invasion.
Amid public controversy and increasing sensitivity about racism and discrimination in America, the band dropped "Dixie" from its name in 2020 and became simply "The Chicks."
"Dixie" is often used to refer to the area below the Mason-Dixon line in America, where slavery was legal, and is now largely considered to glorify an ugly part of American history.