Dixie Chicks' Founding Member Laura Lynch Dead at 65
The Dixie Chicks
Founding member of The Dixie Chicks, Laura Lynch, is dead at 65.
On Saturday, Dec. 23, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that Lynch died in a car accident outside of El Paso, Texas, TMZ reported.
Law enforcement told the publication that Lynch was heading east when a car heading west tried passing a vehicle in front of it on a two-way, undivided part of Highway 62. Tragically, as the car attempted passing, it hit Lynch's car head-on, killing her at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was reportedly taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Lynch co-founded The Dixie Chicks (since renamed to The Chicks) in 1989 with Emily Erwin, Martie Erwin and Robin Lynn Macy. She played upright bass before serving as the lead vocalist after Macy exited the band in 1992. In total, she recorded three albums with the group, including Thank Heavens for Dale Evans (1990), Little Ol’ Cowgirl (1992) and Shouldn’t a Told You That (1993).
In late 1992, Lynch left The Dixie Chicks, and Natalie Maines replaced her in 1995.
Lynch opened up with Entertainment Tonight in 1992 about how the country music group decided on its name.
"We were driving around listening to Little Feat—'I'll be your Dixie chicken if you'll be my Tennessee lamb—and we said, 'What about The Dixie Chickens?'" she explained.
However, her bandmates weren't quite sold on the name. "'Ooh, I don't know about being called chickens,'" she recalled their general reaction, so they shortened it to The Dixie Chicks.
Lynch is survived by her husband, Mac Tull, and their daughter, TMZ reported.
