Awards snub Dixie Chicks

Former country music darlings the Dixie Chicks are still paying a price for criticizing the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

The trio was snubbed at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Wednesday while audience members booed the very mention of the absent group’s name.

The Texas musicians have been on the defensive since March, when singer Natalie Maines expressed shame in coming from the same state as President Bush. Several radio stations pulled the chart-topping group’s songs, and sales of its acclaimed new album slipped.

Instead of showing up at the glitzy Las Vegas ceremony, the three-time nominees performed a song live via satellite from Austin, Texas. They received a “pretty big negative response,� the show’s host, Reba McEntire, told reporters backstage afterward.

Later during the ceremony, presenter Vince Gill jokingly mumbled their names when listing the contenders for entertainer of the year.

Gill, who has said people should forgive the group, said backstage that the atmosphere “wasn’t near as volatile� as it was during the Flameworthy Music Awards in Nashville last month.