The Grammys could take a rare step into the political arena on Sunday if the Dixie Chicks win the coveted album-of-the-year award, as observers of the music industry's biggest honors are predicting.

The Texas country trio is reveling in its new outsider status after picking a fight with President George W. Bush in 2003, and watching its popularity plummet as the Republican-leaning country music establishment snubbed the chart-topping group.

The Chicks' first album since the brouhaha, "Taking the Long Way," yielded five Grammy nominations, including three for the wry single "Not Ready to Make Nice." The acclaimed album was the ninth-biggest seller in the United States last year, even if its commercial success fell short of its predecessors.

Grammy voters love underdogs and comeback stories, which could help the Dixie Chicks add to their collection of eight Grammys. But politically charged music arising from such turbulent times as Vietnam and Watergate has traditionally been ignored at awards time.

Indeed, for a liberal-leaning recording industry full of rebels and other creative misfits, there has been little acknowledgment in recent years that an unpopular conservative president is embroiled in a war that has cost the lives of more than 3,120 U.S. military personnel and over 50,000 Iraqis.

"I think people are paranoid," former Grateful Dead member Mickey Hart told Reuters. "I think that if they speak out, they think they're gonna get whacked by the government. It's pretty oppressive now. Look at the Dixie Chicks. They got whacked."

Not exactly "whacked" Mafia-style. Chicks' Singer Natalie Maines ignited the controversy when she said during a London concert that she was ashamed to hail from the same state as Bush.

INSTANT PARIAHS

As news of the off-the-cuff remark spread, the one-time darlings of country music became instant pariahs. Sales slumped as radio stations stopped playing their music. Nixed in Nashville, they were embraced by free-speech advocates, opponents of the Iraq war and other causes, especially as public opinion turned against Bush.

Thus emboldened, Maines and her two bandmates, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, teamed up with rock producer Rick Rubin to make what critics described as the strongest album of their career.

Other contenders for Grammy album of the year are rock crooner John Mayer, rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers, soul-pop duo Gnarls Barkley and pop singer Justin Timberlake.

One holdover from the Vietnam era, Neil Young, will compete in three rock categories for his own anti-Bush album, "Living With War." The Canadian singer/songwriter has never won a Grammy.

Among the 108 categories, Grammy contenders cited this year for socially conscious material can be counted on one hand: metal band Slayer, for "Eyes of the Insane," a song inspired by the true story of a U.S. soldier who committed suicide shortly before he was due to return home from Iraq; Bruce Springsteen, for "We Shall Overcome -- The Seeger Sessions," a tribute to protest-minded veteran folk singer Pete Seeger; and British reggae group UB40, for the album "Who You Fighting For," including its anti-war title track.

That's not to say that musicians don't read newspapers. Hurricane Katrina inspired several Grammy contenders, including the U2-Green Day charity single "The Saints Are Coming," the Elvis Costello-Allen Toussaint collaboration "The River in Reverse," and New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas' album "After the Rain."

Taken from Yahoo!