Former Dixie Chick member Laura Lynch dies at 65

Original county band Dixie Chicks member, Laura Lynch known for her 'cowgirl music' legacy, tragically lost in a car accident

Laura Lynch, the original member of the country music band the Dixie Chicks, passed away in a fatal car accident on Friday, the authorities said. She was 65 years old.

Laura Lynch's legacy endures beyond the band( Kansas City Oasis)

Nikol Endres, a local justice of the peace, confirmed the death and the identity of Lynch.

Lynch, who lived in Fort Worth, was driving on Route 62 near Cornudas, Texas, about 70 miles east of El Paso, when a pickup truck from the opposite direction veered into her lane and hit her vehicle head-on, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Lynch died on the spot.

The county singer grew up on her grandfather’s ranch in Texas and learned to play the bass. She formed the Dixie Chicks, later renamed as the Chicks, in Dallas in 1988 with Robin Lynn Macy, and sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire.

The band’s first two albums, ‘Thank Heavens for Dale Evans’ in 1990 and ‘Little Ol’ Cowgirl’ in 1992, featured the original quartet.

Lynch described the band’s music as ‘cowgirl music’ in a 1992 interview with National Public Radio.

“Our brand of cowgirl music is a mixture of old-time country music, bluegrass music, acoustic,” she said.

“We all sing three-part and four-part harmony. We throw in some instrumentals, some country swing. That’s our brand of cowgirl music.”

Macy left the band in 1992. The next year, the remaining three released ‘Shouldn’t A Told You That,’ and started gaining popularity. In 1993, they performed at an inaugural ball for President Bill Clinton.

In 1995, Lynch was let go from the group and replaced by Natalie Maines.

“We were facing going on our seventh year, we were starting to re-evaluate things,” Maguire said to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1996.

“We were making a future decision.”

“What do we want to do in the future, where do we want to be in five years? I don’t think Laura really saw herself on the road five years from now,” she added.

“Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the early success of the band,” the Chicks said.

“Her undeniable talents helped propel us beyond busking on street corners to stages all across Texas and the mid-West.”

Lynch became a public relations officer with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas after leaving the Dixie Chicks, The Star-Telegram reported.

Lynch said to The Associated Press in 2003 that she took up oil painting and devoted most of her time to raising her daughter.