Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country music group Dixie Chicks, died in a car crash on Friday, according to authorities. He is 65 years old.
Lynch’s death and identity were confirmed by Nikol Endres, an area justice of the peace.
Lynch, of Fort Worth, was driving east on Route 62 near Cornudas, Texas, about 70 miles east of El Paso, when a westbound pickup truck crossed into his lane and hit his pickup truck , the Texas Department of Public Safety said. He 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 siblings 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 a National Public Radio interview that aired in 1992, Lynch referred to the band’s music as “cowgirl music.”
“Our brand of cowgirl music is a mix of old-time country music, bluegrass music, acoustic,” she said. “We all sing three-part and four-part harmony. We throw in some instrumentals, some country swing. That’s our brand of cowgirl music.”
Macy left the band in 1992. The following year, the remaining trio released “Shouldn’t A have told you,” and began experiencing moderate success. In 1993, the band played at an inaugural ball for President Bill Clinton.
But in 1995, Lynch was fired from the group and replaced by Natalie Maines.
“We’re facing our seventh year, we’re starting to reevaluate things,” Maguire told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 1996. “We’re making a decision going forward.”
Maguire added: “What do we want to do in the future, where do we want to be in five years? I don’t think Laura really sees herself down the road five years from now.”
On social mediathe Chicks called Lynch a “bright light” whose “infectious energy and humor provided a spark in the early days of our band.”
“Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the band’s early success,” said Chicks. “His undeniable talents have helped us go beyond busking on street corners to stages across Texas and the Midwest.”
Information about survivors was not immediately available.
After leaving the Dixie Chicks, Lynch went on to become a public relations officer at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, according to The Star-Telegram.
Lynch said The Associated Press in 2003 that she took up oil painting and spent most of her time raising her daughter.
“It was worth it,” Lynch said of his time in the band. “I’d be anemic again to do this.”
