Dixie Chicks in the money

The Dixie Chicks have kept "loyal fans", their manager said

Music trio Dixie Chicks are expected to top the list of touring country acts this year, despite recent controversies.

The trio are expected to gross nearly $60m (£38.2m) for the last year's touring.

The group were plunged into controversy earlier this year after singer Natalie Maines made critical comments about US President George Bush just days before the recent war in Iraq.

A resulting backlash from conservative country fans included CD burnings, while several radio stations refused to play their songs in protest.

"The bottom line is, for all the so-called controversy... the Dixie Chicks' fans remained totally loyal throughout the tour," manager Simon Renshaw told US magazine Billboard.

Worldwide tour

Mr Renshaw said the group had averaged attendances of 15, 878 for each of their 56 shows in the US, with each show grossing an average of $980,337 (£624,418).

The amounts compared with attendances of 12,687 and an average gross of $524,211 (£334,019) for a their tour in 2000.

The trio's North American tour ends in Calgary, Canada, on 13 August. After this, they visit Europe and Australia.

The first concert the group played after the anti-Bush comments were made was in May, at the 15,000-capacity Bi-Lo Centre in Greenville, South Carolina.

It was met with cheers from the crowd, with just a handful of protesters outside.

An anti-Dixie Chicks concert was held at a nearby town, with a radio DJs offering free entry to those presenting a Dixie Chicks concert ticket.

The trio also appeared naked on the cover of celebrity magazine Entertainment Weekly during the controversy, covered in slogans used by their detractors and supporters since the anti-Bush outburst.