22 Years Ago Today: The Chicks Hit #1 With ‘Fly’ Album

It was October 22, 1999, and the world was locked in with the Chicks. Their 5th studio album, Fly, went #1, not only on the country albums chart, but also on the pop chart.

The album was anything but pop, with heavy fiddle, steel guitar, banjo, and story songs like "Goodbye Earl," the all-female trio made country music off-the-charts cool. Lead singer Natalie Maines's vocals soared on every track, while sisters Martie Maguire (Erwin) and Emily Strayer (Robison, Erwin) provided perfect harmonies and masterful musicianship.

And the hits...kept...coming. So many hit singles on this gem, like Ready to Run", "Cowboy Take Me Away", "Without You", "Goodbye Earl", "Cold Day in July", "Heartbreak Town", "Some Days You Gotta Dance" and "If I Fall You're Going Down with Me." The raucious"Sin Wagon" was played on this station and even charted without officially being released. The song, "Some Days You Gotta Dance" was originally recorded and released by Keith Urban's former band the Ranch.  Keith helped out the Chicks on their rendition, providing guitar licks.

Fly went on to win a Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Country Album. It was also nominated in the all-genre category of Album of the Year. And there were plenty of other awards for this groundbreaking, fan favorite album.  In 2020, Fly  ranked at #224 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

This album was the soundtrack to our 1999, 2000...