by Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country music group Dixie Chicks, died Friday in a car accident in Texas. She was 65 years old.
The death was confirmed by Nikol Endres, justice of the peace for the area.
Ms. Lynch, of Fort Worth, was driving east on Route 62 near Cornudas, Texas, about 70 miles east of El Paso, when a pickup truck heading west crossed into her lane and struck her truck in front, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
After growing up on his grandfather’s ranch in Texas, Lynch, a bassist, founded the Dixie Chicks, now known as the Chicks, in Dallas in 1988 with Robin Lynn Macy and two sisters, Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire.
The original lineup only had two albums together: the debut “Thank Heavens for Dale Evans” in 1990 and “Little Ol’ Cowgirl” in 1992.
In an interview with National Public Radio in 1992, Lynch referred to the band’s music as “cowgirl music.”
“Our brand of cowboy music is a mix of old country music, bluegrass music and acoustic music,” he said. “We all sing in harmony with three and four voices. We added some instruments, some country swing. That’s our brand of cowboy music.”
Mrs. Macy left the band in 1992. The following year, the remaining trio released “Shouldn’t I tell you that?”, and began to experience moderate success. In 1993, the band played at President Bill Clinton’s inaugural ball.
But in 1995, Lynch was fired from the group and replaced by Natalie Maines.
“We were going into our seventh year, we were starting to re-evaluate things,” Maguire told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1996. “We were making a future decision.”
And he added: “What do we want to do in the future, where do we want to be in five years? “I don’t think Laura would really see herself traveling in five years.”
On social networksthe Chicks called Ms. Lynch a “bright light” whose “infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band.”
“Laura had a flair for design, a love of all things Texas, and was instrumental in the band’s early success,” the Chicks said. “Her undeniable talent helped propel us beyond busking on street corners and into stages throughout Texas and the Midwest.”
Information about survivors was not immediately available.
After leaving the Dixie Chicks, Ms. Lynch became public relations officer at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, according to The Star-Telegram.
She said The Associated Press in 2003 who dedicated himself to oil painting and dedicated much of his time to raising his daughter.
“It was worth it,” Lynch said of his time in the band. “I’d get anemic again if I did.”
