Taking the Long Way is the seventh studio album by the Dixie Chicks, an American country music band. It was released on May 23, 2006 in the U.S. and on June 12, 2006 worldwide. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. It sold over 2 million copies in the U.S., being certified 2x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America as of July 11, 2007. It won 5 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year in February 2007.

The first song released from the album was the charity single "I Hope" on September 2005. The song received its debut performance on the Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast telethon on September 9, 2005 and was later made available as a digital download single with proceeds to benefit the Hurricane Katrina relief.

The first physical single from the album, "Not Ready to Make Nice", was released in March 2006. On May 18, 2006, the whole album was leaked onto various file sharing mediums.

Taking the Long Way was the first studio album the band released since the controversy that erupted over them in 2003 following Natalie Maines' remarks critical of then-United States President George W. Bush. The controversy and the Chicks' reaction to it is the major theme at the first tracks of the album.

The Long Way is the ninth studio album released by American country music artist Doug Stone. It was his only release for the Audium Entertainment label, and its only single ("POW 369", also recorded by Darryl Worley on his 2002 album I Miss My Friend) failed to enter the Billboard country music charts.

The album's last three tracks are new re-recordings of songs previously included on Stone's earlier albums: "More Love" from the 1994 album of the same name, "Born in the Dark" from 1995's Faith in Me, Faith in You, and "I'd Be Better Off (In a Pine Box)" from his 1991 self-titled debut album.

Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist.

After starting his career in the late 1980s as a singer/songwriter of contemporary Christian music, Chapman has since been recognized as one of the most prolific singers in the genre, releasing more than 20 albums to date. Chapman has also won five Grammy awards and 56 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, more than any other artist in history. His seven "Artist of the Year" Dove Awards, his latest in 2009, are also an industry record. As of 2007, Chapman has sold more than 10 million albums and has 8 RIAA-certified Gold or Platinum albums.

Chapman is also a vocal advocate for adoption, along with his wife Mary Beth. Together, they have started a charity organization called Show Hope (formerly called Shaohannah's Hope), that mobilizes individuals and communities to care for orphans through its international orphan care work as well as adoption aid grants to help put more orphans from overseas and the U.S. in loving, forever families. In 2009, Show Hope finished building Maria's Big House of Hope, a medical care center in China that provides holistic care to orphans with special needs. He is also a contributor to Compassionart, a charity founded by Martin Smith of British rock band Delirious?.

Deitra Farr (born August 1, 1957) is an American blues, soul and gospel singer-songwriter.

She was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and Farr began singing in the mid-1970s with various soul bands. At the age of 18, Farr recorded the lead vocals on "You Won't Support Me", with the Chicago group Mill Street Depo. That song made the Top 100 R&B list with Cashbox magazine. She began singing the blues in the early 1980s. From 1993 to 1996, she was the lead singer for Mississippi Heat and recorded two albums with them, Learned the Hard Way and Thunder in my Heart.

In 1997, she released her first solo album titled The Search is Over, on the British record label, JSP Records.

In 2005, Farr released her second JSP album, Let It Go. The blues guitarist, Billy Flynn, played on Let It Go.

Since 1990, she has toured internationally, so far performing in over 30 countries. Farr is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, with a Bachelor's degree in journalism. She has a regular column called "Artist to Artist" in Living Blues magazine.

Matthias Paul, better known by his stage name Paul van Dyk (born (1971-12-16)16 December 1971) is a German Grammy Award-winning Electronic Dance Music DJ, musician and record producer. One of the first true Superstar DJs, Paul van Dyk was one of the first artists to receive a Grammy nomination in the newly added category of Best Dance/Electronic album for his 2004 release Reflections. He was named the World's No. 1 DJ in both 2005 and 2006, something less than a handful of DJs have ever achieved. Paul van Dyk is the only DJ to hold a spot in the World's Top 10 DJs since 1998. He is also the first DJ to be named No. 1 by Mixmag in 2005. As of 2007, he has sold over 4.5 million albums worldwide.

A trance producer starting in the early 1990s, Paul quickly achieved popularity with his remix of "Love Stimulation" by Humate under the record label MFS in 1993, and with his hit single, "For an Angel", but in recent times he no longer likes to describe his music as trance, but rather simply as electronic dance music.