Dixie Chicks founding member Laura Lynch dies in head-on car crash near El Paso
Laura Lynch, a founding member of the Dixie Chicks band, has died in a car crash near El Paso, officials confirmed.
Lynch, 65, was killed instantly in a head-on collision Friday evening by an oncoming car attempting to pass another on an undivided highway near El Paso, said Sgt. Eliot Torres of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
She was traveling in a 2016 Ford F-150 along the rural highway with a posted speed limit of 80 mph. The other vehicle was a 2022 Dodge Ram 1500, according to the DPS report.
She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, officials said, noting its investigation of the crash is ongoing.
"The driver of Vehicle 1 attempted to pass another vehicle on a two-way undivided portion of US 62. As Vehicle 1 traveled onto the eastbound lane, it struck (Lynch's vehicle) head-on. Vehicle 1 caught fire and came to rest on the westbound lane. (Lynch's vehicle) came to rest and was inoperable in the eastbound lane.," the report states.
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The fatal crash occurred around 5:45 p.m. Dec. 22. Weather conditions were listed as cloudy, but the roadway was dry.
In a statement posted to Instagram, the band, now known as The Chicks, remembered Lynch.
Crash was near Cornudas at US 62
According to the DPS report, the crash was at U.S. 62; 7.46 miles west of Cornudas and 68 miles east of El Paso.
Dixie Chicks members in 1989 included Laura Lynch
Lynch was one of four founding members of the band, formed in 1989 with Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer (who used their family name, Erwin), and Robin Lynn Macy. Lynch played the upright bass and later became the lead singer. They recorded three albums — Thank Heavens for Dale Evans in 1990, Little Ol' Cowgirl in 1992 and Shouldn't a Told You That a year later, before leaving the band in 1993. In 1995, she was replaced by Natalie Maines, as the band veered from bluegrass to mainstream country.
Lynch departed long before Maines openly criticized then-President George W. Bush in 2003, sparking a backlash and country radio boycotts. The band changed its name to The Chicks in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd's murder and a subsequent racial reckoning.
Who is Laura Caroline Lynch?
Laura Caroline Lynch, 65, was residing in Fort Worth. She graduated from Coronado High School in El Paso.
She died in a fatal crash not far from Dell City, Texas, where her parents had deep roots in agriculture and water development.
Jim and Mary Lynch relocated from California to Dell City in 1950. Laura Lynch was born 8 years later.
In 2022, Lynch spoke with the El Paso Times about her family’s longtime ties to Dell City.
"Marketing went far and wide to try and get more people to come out to Dell City," Laura Lynch told the Times in an article examining the community’s plans sale water to El Paso Water.
Lynch told the Times that she split her time between Dell City and Forth Worth. Lynch explained that she converted old buildings into AirBnBs, which were popular for hosting visitors to the Guadalupe Mountains, stargazers, and guests visiting family and friends.
Lynch said she grew to appreciate young farmers who had fresh ideas and views of the beautiful valley.
The Lynch family sold its 25,036-acre CL Ranch for nearly $50 million in 2016 to El Paso Water.
USA Today reporter Gary Levin contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Dixie Chicks founding member dies in head-on car crash near El Paso
