Dixie Chicks have the No. 1 U.S. album

The Dixie Chicks call it "the Incident": the anti-Bush remark that Natalie Maines, their lead singer, made onstage in London in 2003. "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," said Maines, a Texan herself.

It led to a partisan firestorm, a radio boycott, death threats and, now, to an album that's anything but repentant: "Taking the Long Way" (Open Wide/Monument/ Columbia). The Dixie Chicks - Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire - were the top-selling country group of the late 1990s and early 2000s. After country's gatekeepers disowned them over politics, they decided to keep their politics and let country music fend for itself.

Country music radio may be cool toward The Dixie Chicks, but the Texas group Wednesday scored its third No. 1 U.S. album with 'Taking the Long Way.'

Music fans have apparently forgiven or forgotten the dustup following the band`s disparaging remarks about U.S. President George Bush and the Iraqi war in 2003, because 'Taking the Long Way' sold 526,000 copies in its first week, placing it atop both the Billboard 200 and Country Albums charts.