Not Ready to Make Nice

Natalie says the infamous comment in London wasn't really planned. They had been in London for a couple of weeks and, like the rest of the world, were following the news of the run-up to the Iraqi invasion very closely.

"We talked about it nonstop, all the time, and were very into politics and things at the time. We just talked about how silly it felt and how trite it felt to have to put on a show when such serious things were going on in the world," she says. "But we've always known that our job is to perform and that people spend their money to see the music and to see a show. I think a part of me knew I had to say something about it just so people don't think that we're shallow and we don't care what's going on. But I also didn't want to get too heavy because we are performers and are on stage."

Immediately after Natalie said it, Emily knew she'd hear all about it. But thought it would be from a far smaller audience—her mom! "I didn't think it would go around the world," she says.

Martie says the group's manager, an Englishman, didn't initially see the big deal either. "I mean, in England I think they're used to criticizing politicians all the time, and he said, 'Three days tops. Three days tops it will blow over,'" she says. "So we believed it and then it just kept going."