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Brooks & Dunn is an American country music duo, consisting of singer-songwriters Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. The duo, which debuted in 1991, have since won the Vocal Duo Award of the Country Music Association every year between 1992 and 2007, with the exception of 2000, in which Montgomery Gentry took the honor. Other notable awards include the Entertainer of the Year award in 1996.
Ronnie Dunn was born Ronnie Gene Dunn in Coleman, Texas on June 1st, 1953. He attended thirteen schools in his first twelve years of school. Son of a "rambling, free spirited oil field worker" and very grounded, conservative Baptist mother. He began school in Blanca, New Mexico and finished his formal education at Abilene Christian University in 1974 as a psychology major. "ACU" was a strict, conservative Church Of Christ establishment . After finding out that Ronnie was playing bass guitar and singing in bands in clubs in the Abilene, Texas area he was given the choice to quit or leave the university. He chose to leave and moved to Tulsa Oklahoma. He is a member of both the Oklahoma and Arkansas Music Halls Of Fame.
Dunn has been recognized as BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) country music songwriter of the year twice. BILLBOARD Magazine country songwriter of the year in 1996. He has won over 20 BMI songwriting awards. He has been married for seventeen years to his wife Janine and has three children, Whitney 26 yrs., Jesse 24 yrs. and Haley 12 yrs of age.
Brooks and Dunn have won more Country Music Association awards and Academy of Country Music awards than any act in the history of country music. They have sold over 30 million records and continue to be one of the most consistently successful touring acts on the concert circuit today. They opened for the Rolling Stones in 2006.
Ronnie began his musical career as a solo artist. He charted two minor singles on MCA Nashville in 1983 -- "It's Written All Over Your Face" and "She Put the Sad in All His Songs".
Kix was born Leon Eric Brooks, III in Shreveport, Louisiana on May 12, 1955. He has one sister, one half-sister, one half-brother and his father adopted one son of his third wife. After graduating from Sewanee Military Academy, He briefly attended LA Tech University as a Theatre Arts major. He moved to Alaska to work for his Father on an oil pipeline for one summer and then returned to LA Tech to finish his education. He then moved to Maine and wrote advertising for his sister and brother-in-law's company. His father urged him to pursue his desire of being a musician and Kix moved to Nashville in the early 1980s. His then girlfriend (now wife Barbara, with whom he has a son and daughter) followed shortly thereafter. He began working for Tree Publishing as a staff songwriter. He recorded his first solo single, "Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down", for Avion in 1983, but returned to songwriting after its failure. He also released an album, Kix Brooks, in 1989 on Capitol Records. By 2000, he had won 6 BMI awards. As of January 2006, Kix Brooks is the new host of American Country Countdown, a well-known syndicated radio program formerly hosted by Bob Kingsley.
Brooks & Dunn's music covers the full range of modern country music, and their chart-topping hits have included everything from ballads to rock-tinged up-tempos to the gospel music-influenced "Believe." They are also associated with being pioneers of the line dance craze of the mid-1990s. One of their biggest hits, "Boot Scootin' Boogie" - the video for which was made at the country dance club, Tulsa City Limits Tulsa, Oklahoma - is most emblematic of this style.
Both band members write, sing, and play guitar. One or both artists writes or co-writes a large majority of their material, and self-penned successes include the 2003 smash "Red Dirt Road" which the duo wrote together. Both artists have served as songwriters for other artists, both before and during their careers as a duo. Dunn's vocal performances have tended to be released as radio singles; only one of their Number One singles, "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone", has featured Kix on lead vocals.
Brooks & Dunn are renowned for their high-energy stage shows. Recent tours have featured Australian country singer Keith Urban, fellow duo Montgomery Gentry, and successful country newcomer Gretchen Wilson. Their Deuces Wild tour of 2005 featured fellow country duo Big and Rich. In 2006, the duo opened for the Rolling Stones at their Omaha, Nebraska show. Also in 2006 they toured with country artist Sara Evans. 2006 also brought The Long Haul Tour which featured artists Jack Ingram and Sugarland.
The duo's songs have been used by President George W. Bush as his official campaign songs in both his election and re-election campaigns. In 2000, the then Texas Governor chose the blue-collar line-dance-friending hit of the mid-1990s, "Hard Workin' Man," and in 2004, the President selected the patriotic hit "Only in America". Brooks & Dunn both supported the President's re-election campaign, performing at a Republican rally featuring Laura Bush on the eve of the election.
The duo have made appearances on several other artists' albums as well. Ronnie Dunn sang backup on Lee Roy Parnell's cover of Hank Williams' "Take These Chains From My Heart", which can be found on Parnell's 1994 album On the Road. In 1998, Brooks & Dunn collaborated with Reba McEntire on "If You See Him/If You See Her". Dunn also contributed his vocals to the song "Raise the Barn" on Keith Urban's 2006 album Love, Pain & the whole crazy thing, as well as newcomer Ashley Monroe's Top 40 single "I Don't Want To".
Year
Title
Chart Positions
Album
US Country
"Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down"
73
Kix Brooks
"Sacred Ground"
89
Kix Brooks
Year
Title
Chart Positions
Album
US Country
"It's Written All Over Your Face"
59
"She Put the Sad in All His Songs"
59
"Take These Chains from My Heart"
(Lee Roy Parnell w/ Ronnie Dunn)
17
On the Road (Lee Roy Parnell album)
"I Don't Want To" (Ashley Monroe w/ Ronnie Dunn)
37
Year
Title
Chart Positions
Album
US Country
US Hot 100
US Pop 100
"Brand New Man"
1
Brand New Man
"My Next Broken Heart"
1
Brand New Man
"Neon Moon"
1
Brand New Man
"Boot Scootin' Boogie"
1
50
Brand New Man
"Lost And Found"B
6
Brand New Man
"Hard Workin' Man"
4
Hard Workin' Man
"We'll Burn That Bridge"
2
Hard Workin' Man
"She Used To Be Mine"
1
Hard Workin' Man
"Rock My World (Little Country Girl)"B
2
97
Hard Workin' Man
"That Ain't No Way To Go"
1
Hard Workin' Man
"She's Not The Cheatin' Kind"
1
Waitin' On Sundown
"I'll Never Forgive My Heart"
6
Waitin' On Sundown
"Ride 'Em High, Ride 'Em Low"A
73
Waitin' On Sundown
"Little Miss Honky Tonk"
1
Waitin' On Sundown
"You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone"B
1
Waitin' On Sundown
"Whiskey Under The Bridge"
5
Waitin' On Sundown
"My Maria"
1
79
Borderline
"I Am That Man"
2
Borderline
"Mama Don't Get Dressed Up For Nothing"B
13
Borderline
"A Man This Lonely"
1
124
Borderline
"Why Would I Say Goodbye"B
8
Borderline
"Honky Tonk Truth"
3
Greatest Hits
"He's Got You"
2
Greatest Hits
"If You See Him/If You See Her" (w/ Reba McEntire)
1
If You See Her
"How Long Gone"
1
If You See Her
"Husbands And Wives"
1
36
If You See Her
"I Can't Get Over You"
5
51
If You See Her
"South Of Santa Fe"B
41
If You See Her
"Against The Wind"A
53
King Of The Hill: Original Television Soundtrack
"Missing You"
15
75
Tight Rope
"Beer Thirty"
19
94
Tight Rope
"Goin' Under Gettin' Over You"A
60
Tight Rope
"You'll Always Be Loved By Me"
5
55
Tight Rope
"Ain't Nothing 'Bout You"
1
25
Steers & Stripes
"The Long Goodbye"
1
39
Steers & Stripes
"Only In America"
1
33
Steers & Stripes
"My Heart Is Lost To You"
5
48
Steers & Stripes
"Every River"
12
75
Steers & Stripes
"Hangin' 'Round The Mistletoe"A
47
It Won't Be Christmas Without You
"It Won't Be Christmas Without You"A
41
It Won't Be Christmas Without You
"Rockin' Little Christmas"A
57
It Won't Be Christmas Without You
"Winter Wonderland"A
57
It Won't Be Christmas Without You
"Red Dirt Road"
1
25
Red Dirt Road
"You Can't Take The Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl"
3
39
Red Dirt Road
"That's What She Gets For Loving Me"
6
53
Red Dirt Road
"That's What It's All About"
2
38
The Greatest Hits Collection II
"It's Getting Better All the Time"
1
56
The Greatest Hits Collection II
"Play Something Country"
1
37
53
Hillbilly Deluxe
"Believe"
8
60
95
Hillbilly Deluxe
"Building Bridges" (w/ Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill)
4
66
Hillbilly Deluxe
"Hillbilly Deluxe"
16
102
Hillbilly Deluxe
"Proud Of The House We Built"C
10
89
Cowboy Town
