Founding Dixie Chicks Member Laura Lynch Is Dead

One of the original members of the Dixie Chicks was killed in a car crash in Texas on Friday, reports USA Today. Laura Lynch, 65, died in a head-on collision just after sunset on Highway 62, per WFAA and TMZ. Lynch formed the band in 1989 with Martie Maguire, Emily Strayer, and Robin Lynn Macy, eventually becoming its lead singer. She left the group in 1995 and was replaced by Natalie Maines. The band—now known as The Chicks—shifted from bluegrass to more of a mainstream country sound, achieving huge success with the album Wide Open Spaces in 1998.

"We are shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Laura Lynch," the group's current lineup of Maguire, Strayer, and Maines wrote on Instagram. "Laura was a bright light…her infectious energy and humor gave a spark to the early days of our band. Laura had a gift for design, a love of all things Texas and was instrumental in the early success of the band." Lynch went on to lead a relatively private life after leaving the band and didn't express public regrets about the decision, according to TMZ. The accident remains under investigation, per CBS News. (More Dixie Chicks stories.)