Dixie Chicks Get 4 Country Music Awards

The Dixie Chicks took four awards, including best entertainer, at the Country Music Assn. ceremony Wednesday, and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill became the first husband and wife to win as best male and female vocalists in the same year.

The Dixie Chicks also won best album for “Fly,” video for “Goodbye Earl” and best vocal group for the third straight year.

Hill and McGraw, who won the vocal event award together in 1997, thanked each other.

“I feel so alone,” Hill said while accepting her trophy. “My husband’s not out here. I don’t know who to hug. Can I hug somebody?”

From the audience McGraw threw her a hug, just minutes after winning his award.

Industry voters showed they were game for a little controversy but still open to old-fashioned inspiration. They honored the Dixie Chicks for their video featuring a murder and the duo of Alan Jackson and George Strait for “Murder on Music Row,” a song that accuses the country music industry of killing the traditional country music that made its name. But “I Hope You Dance,” an inspirational ballad about how people should seize the day, also won awards--for best single and song. The latter went to songwriters Mark D. Sanders and Tia Sillers.

Lee Ann Womack, who won the prize for best single, sang “I Hope You Dance” backed by five ballerinas dancing around a maypole during the live CBS telecast.

Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines defended their comic video, where the bad guy is poisoned to death and his body dumped into a lake.

The song has been criticized for treating premeditated murder as a lighthearted romp.

“It’s a funny song and a funny video about a very serious topic,” Maines said. “A lot of women die at the hands of their husbands.”

The Dixie Chicks also performed “Sin Wagon,” the song in which they sing about “mattress dancing,” with flames projected on stage.

The “Murder on Music Row” award pleased traditional country music fans who believe its message that traditional country music is endangered. But Strait undercut those who think the song is a rallying cry to change things in Nashville.

“I don’t know how seriously this song was written, but it was [recorded] as kind of a joke,” Strait said.

Brad Paisley won the Horizon award--a prize given to someone expected to have a long, successful career. And Montgomery Gentry took the best vocal duo trophy--the first time in nine years that Brooks & Dunn didn’t win the award.