RALEIGH, N.C. — Tuesday night, local radio stations continued to muzzle the Dixie Chicks -- all because the band's lead singer made controversial comments aimed at President George W. Bush.

The Dixie Chicks are one of the hottest groups in country music today. But when lead singer Natalie Maines said she was ashamed to be from the same state as President Bush, she set off a landslide of controversy.

"It was nonstop," WQDR's Lisa McKay said of the barrage of calls the local country station received. "We couldn't answer the phones fast enough."

At WQDR, the Dixie Chicks have been queens of the airwaves. But after Maines' bombshell, the station stopped playing the group's songs.

"Being disrespectful to our president at a time when we should be united, and to make it a personal attack, I think that's what has ticked people off," McKay said.

The station has the numbers to back it up - a half-million e-mails have poured in since Friday. McKay estimates that 70 percent favor kicking the Chicks off the air.

WKML in Fayetteville also has pulled the Dixie Chicks off the air. WQDR says it will consider putting the Dixie Chicks back on the air when the majority of listeners say it's OK.