The Dixie Chicks' first Monument album Wide Open Spaces has become the biggest selling album ever by a country duo or group - racking up some 6 million sales by the time their second album, Fly, was completed. The tremendous sales only demonstrates that while the Dixie Chicks have established themselves as a true country music act, they have also won over audiences outside the country genre. In a music field routinely known for selling to the conservative 30 and over crowd, more than 60% of the Dixie Chicks sales have been to consumers under the age of 25. Their concert audience is as likely to be comprised of entire rows of young women in their early teens and twenties as it is to include middle age couples and entire families complete with pre-teen girls dressed like their musical idols and singing every Dixie Chicks' song word for word.

Download the Dixie Chicks singing the Star Spangled Banner

Dixie Chicks' two Monument/Sony albums, Wide Open Spaces and Fly, are closing in on a combined total of 20 million copies sold. Wide Open Spaces has been certified for sales of over 11 million copies. It's the biggest selling album in history by a country music group, is one of the Top 100-selling albums of all time, and is the biggest selling country debut album ever. The more recent Fly album is catching up fast to its predecessor being just shy of 10 million units and counting. Fly debuted at Number 1 on both the Billboard Hot 200 album chart and the Country Album chart.

February 12th 2002