Brooks & Dunn

Brooks & Dunn was an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who were both vocalists and songwriters. Before the foundation, both members were solo recording artists. Brooks wrote songs for John Conlee, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Highway 101 and both he and Dunn also charted two solo singles apiece in the 1980s.

The duo has released ten studio albums, two Greatest Hits compilations, and a Christmas album. They also charted fifty singles on the Billboard country charts, including twenty Number One hits. Two of their Number Ones, "My Maria" and "Ain't Nothing 'bout You", have been declared by Billboard as the country single of the year.

Brooks & Dunn's first single, "Brand New Man", entered the Hot Country Songs charts in June 1991 and went to number one. It was the title track to the duo's debut album, Brand New Man. The next three singles, "My Next Broken Heart", "Neon Moon" and "Boot Scootin' Boogie", all made number one on the country music charts as well. A fifth single, "Lost and Found", peaked at number six. Brand New Man was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in August 1992, and by 2002, the album had been certified sextuple-platinum. In 1992, the duo won the Duo of the Year Award from the Country Music Association, which also nominated them for that year's Album of the Year and Horizon awards. Brooks & Dunn won the association's Duo award for every year from then until 2006, except for 2000.

Hard Workin' Man was released in 1993 along with its first single, "Hard Workin' Man" which peaked at number 4 on the country music charts. Other singles included "She Used to Be Mine", "That Ain't No Way to Go", "We'll Burn That Bridge" and "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)". In 1994, "Hard Workin' Man" won the duo a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and the album was nominated for Best Country Album. Hard Workin' Man earned its highest RIAA certification in 2002, when it was certified quintuple platinum.

The duo released their third studio album, Waitin' on Sundown, in late 1994 and featured the singles "She's Not the Cheatin' Kind", "Little Miss Honky Tonk", "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone", "I'll Never Forgive My Heart" and "Whiskey Under the Bridge".

The first single from Brooks & Dunn's fourth album, Borderline, was a cover version of B.W. Stevenson's "My Maria". Brooks & Dunn's version of the song spent three weeks at number one in mid-1996 and was that year's top country song according to the Billboard Year-End charts. The song won Brooks & Dunn its second Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Group or Duo, and the duo won the 1996 Entertainer of the Year award from both the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music. Other singles from the Borderline album include "A Man This Lonely, "I Am That Man", "Why Would I Say Goodbye" and "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing".

Their first greatest hits compilation was released in September 1997. The three new songs, "Honky Tonk Truth", "He's Got You" and "Days of Thunder", were released and The Greatest Hits Collection was certified platinum in April 1998, and double-platinum in 2001.

Brooks & Dunn recorded "If You See Him/If You See Her" with Reba McEntire, who later provided a guest vocal on a re-release of the duo's 2008 single "Cowgirls Don't Cry". Brooks & Dunn collaborated with Reba McEntire to perform "If You See Him/If You See Her", which was the lead-off single to Brooks & Dunn's If You See Her and McEntire's If You See Him. Other singles from If You See Him were "How Long Gone", a cover of Roger Miller's "Husbands and Wives", "Born and Raised in Black and White", "I Can't Get Over You", and "South of Santa Fe". In 2001, If You See Her reached double-platinum certification in the United States.

Tight Rope, the duo's sixth album, was released in 1999 and featured a cover of John Waite's "Missing You", "Beer Thirty", and "You'll Always Be Loved By Me". Tight Rope was certified gold in the U.S.

Their seventh studio album, Steers & Stripes, was released in April 2001 and its lead single, "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You", became their longest-lasting number 1, with a six-week stay at that position. The next two singles, "Only in America" and "The Long Goodbye" made number 1 as well. Other singles from the album were "My Heart Is Lost to You", and a cover of Kim Richey's "Every River". "Only in America" was later used by George W. Bush in his 2004 re-election campaign, and again in 2008 by Barack Obama in his campaign.

Brooks & Dunn released a Christmas album, It Won't Be Christmas Without You, in 2002. It was followed in early 2003 by the duo's eighth studio album, Red Dirt Road, whose title track became the duo's eighteenth number one on Billboard. Two more singles, "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl" and "That's What She Gets for Loving Me"were released from the album..

Brooks & Dunn's second Greatest Hits package, The Greatest Hits Collection II, was released in October 2004. The album included singles from If You See Her, Steers & Stripes and Red Dirt Road, and the previously-unreleased "That's What It's All About" and "It's Getting Better All the Time". In August 2005, the duo released the single "Play Something Country".which was the lead single to their ninth studio album, Hillbilly Deluxe. The album's second single, "Believe", peaked at number eight, also winning the next year's Single of the Year and Song of the Year awards from the Country Music Association. Another single, "Building Bridges", with guest vocals from Vince Gill and Sheryl Crow, peaked at number four and the title track peaked at number sixteen on Hot Country Songs.

Their tenth studio album, Cowboy Town, was released in October 2007 and it lead single "Proud of the House We Built" reached number 4 on the country charts and 57 on the Hot 100. Other songs released included "God Must Be Busy", "Put a Girl in It", "Cowgirls Don't Cry", and the title track. Also included on the album is a collaboration with Jerry Jeff Walker on "The Ballad of Jerry Jeff Walker".

On August 10, 2009, Brooks & Dunn announced that they would be splitting up after their The Last Rodeo tour. They released their final compilation, #1s… and Then Some, in September 2009. The album features 28 past hits and two new songs, "Indian Summer" and "Honky Tonk Stomp". Brooks & Dunn performed their last concert together at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on September 2, 2010, with proceeds from the concert benefiting the Country Music Hall of Fame.[66]

Both members continue to perform as solo artistst. Dunn released his self-titled solo album in June 2011, which produced  "Bleed Red", "Cost of Livin'" and "Let the Cowboy Rock". In February 2012, Brooks released the solo single "New to This Town", which features Joe Wals. His album, New to This Town, was released in September 2012 after its second single, "Bring It On Home", made the charts. "Moonshine Road" is the album's third single.

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