ACM: Chicks' Report

By Stephen M. Silverman

03/26/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Two Chicks got a lot of attention at Wednesday's Academy of Country Music Awards: LeAnn Rimes and Dixie Chick Marie Seidel. Host of the show Rimes, 18, raised eyebrows when she walked onstage wearing a T-shirt that bore the slogan "Daddy's $," an obvious reference to much-publicized legal battles with her father, Wilbur. But she soon had the crowd eating out of her hand with a song parody about the tabloid tales and record company hijinx that have consumed her life of late. Meanwhile, at a post-show soiree, PEOPLE asked Seidel what went through her mind as the Dixie Chicks' wins were announced. (In addition to entertainer of the year, the Chicks won the vocal group prize for the third consecutive year and the video prize.) "I wanted my surrogate sisters with me," she said. "It's so hard to be here by myself, but they had really good reasons for not being here." Publicists said that Natalie Maines was home caring for her newborn, while bandmate Emily Robison and her husband, country star Charlie Robison, were home trying to conceive. "It's great to know you can do what you do and have success, and then take a break and that people don't forget you," added Seidel. "We've been off for a while . . . so it's nice to have one foot in and one foot out."

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