Bush-basher Dixie chicks back with bang

The female music trio returns with a hit album three years after their record sales tumbled for bashing President George W Bush.

Three years after the Dixie Chicks saw their record sales tumble for bashing President George W Bush, the female music trio are back and unrepentant, with a top-selling album.

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Although many country music stations are still snubbing the group, their new album, "Taking the Long Way", opened No.1 on the Billboard charts last week with 526,000 copies sold.

The group has also been enjoying a blitz of publicity in the United States, with appearances on leading talk shows, articles in newspapers and a Time magazine cover.

The Chicks, arguably the biggest-selling female country group in history, last grabbed headlines in March 2003 after lead singer Natalie Maines told fans at a concert in London that the group was ashamed Bush was from their home state of Texas.

The resulting anti-Chicks campaign by US country music stations and conservative was ruthless and resulted in their music being banned or burned and even death threats.

Many are now calling their triumphant comeback sweet revenge.

"It's not yet clear whether the new album is being bought by country music fans who are ignoring the industry's party line because they like the music or by non-fans who are using their credit cards in support of free speech," columnist Eugene Robinson wrote in the Washington Post Friday.

"It is clear, though, that both Bush and his war have become unpopular, even in communities where, as the joke goes, they like both kinds of music, country and western," he added.

The Chicks, for their part, say they have no regrets about the past and are not about to seek forgiveness for speaking their mind.

As proof, the first single from their new album is called "Not Ready to Make Nice".