Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn is an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo recording artists, having charted two solo singles apiece in the 1980s. Brooks also released an album for Capitol Records in 1989 and wrote hit singles for other artists.
Brooks & Dunn
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
1990–2010, 2015–present
The duo signed to Arista Nashville after their foundation. They have recorded eleven studio albums, one Christmas album, and five compilation albums for the label. They also have released 50 singles, of which 20 went to number one on the Hot Country Songs charts and 19 more reached top 10. Two of these number-one songs, "My Maria" (a cover of the B.W. Stevenson song) and "Ain't Nothing 'bout You", were the top country songs of 1996 and 2001, respectively, according to the Billboard Year-End charts. The latter is also the duo's longest-lasting number-one single on that chart at six weeks. Several of their songs have also reached the Billboard Hot 100, with the number-25 peaks of "Ain't Nothing 'bout You" and "Red Dirt Road" being their highest there. Brooks and Dunn also won the Country Music Association Vocal Duo of the Year award every year between 1992 and 2006, except for 2000. Two of their songs won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: "Hard Workin' Man" in 1994 and "My Maria" in 1996. All but two of the duo's studio albums are certified platinum or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America; their highest-certified is their 1991 debut album, Brand New Man, which is certified sextuple-platinum for shipments of six million copies.
The duo's material is known for containing influences of honky-tonk, mainstream country, and rock, as well as the contrast between their singing voices and on-stage personalities, although some of their music has also been criticized as formulaic. Their 1992 single "Boot Scootin' Boogie" helped repopularize line dancing in the United States, and 2001's "Only in America" was used by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama in their respective presidential campaigns. Brooks and Dunn have collaborated with several artists, including Reba McEntire, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Mac Powell, Billy Gibbons, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Luke Combs.
After announcing their retirement in August 2009, they performed their final concert on September 2, 2010, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Both Brooks and Dunn have continued to record for Arista Nashville as solo artists. Dunn released a self-titled album in 2011, which included the top-10 country hit "Bleed Red", while Brooks released New to This Town in September 2012. The duo reunited in 2015 for a series of concerts with Reba McEntire in Las Vegas. In 2019, the duo was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Musical career[edit]
Brand New Man[edit]
Brooks and Dunn's first single, "Brand New Man", entered the Hot Country Songs charts in June 1991 and went to number one.[7] It was the title track to the duo's debut album, Brand New Man, which was released two months later. Brooks and Dunn wrote this song and several other cuts in collaboration with songwriter Don Cook, who co-produced the album with Hendricks.[3] It was also Cook's first credit as a producer.[14] The next three single releases from Brand New Man ("My Next Broken Heart", "Neon Moon", and their own rendition of "Boot Scootin' Boogie") all made number one on the country music charts, as well, making for the first time in country-music history that a duo or group had sent its first four singles to the top of the charts.[3] A fifth single, "Lost and Found", peaked at number six. "Boot Scootin' Boogie", which had previously been the B-side to "My Next Broken Heart", also made number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100,[7] and its commercial success led to a renewed interest in line dancing throughout the United States.[1] Brand New Man was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in August 1992 for shipments of one million copies; by 2002, the album had been certified sextuple-platinum for shipments of six million.[15] It spent more than 190 weeks on the Top Country Albums charts.[3] 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.[3] Brooks and Dunn won the association's Duo award for every year from then until 2006, except for 2000, when the award went to Montgomery Gentry.[7][16] After the album's release, Brooks & Dunn began touring as well.[1]
Brand New Man received a positive review from AllMusic, whose critic Daniel Gioffre thought that the album showed the duo's diversity of musical influences.[17] Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly was less positive, criticizing the duo's sound for being "imitative".[18]
Hard Workin' Man and Waitin' on Sundown[edit]
Hard Workin' Man was the title of Brooks and Dunn's second album, which was released in 1993. The title track, also its first single, peaked at number four on the country music charts. The album included two number-one singles in its third and fifth releases: "She Used to Be Mine" and its B-side, "That Ain't No Way to Go". "We'll Burn That Bridge" and "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)" (respectively the second and fourth releases) both made top five on Billboard, with the former reaching number one on Radio & Records.[3][7] Also included on the album was a remix of "Boot Scootin' Boogie".[19] In 1994, "Hard Workin' Man" won the duo a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal,[7] and the album was nominated for Best Country Album.[3] Hard Workin' Man earned its highest RIAA certification in 2002, when it was certified quintuple platinum.[7] Brian Mansfield gave a generally positive review in Allmusic, saying that its up-tempo songs "rocked harder" than any of the songs from the first album.[19]
By the end of 1994, the duo released their third studio album, Waitin' on Sundown. It also produced five charting singles, three of which made number one on the country charts: "She's Not the Cheatin' Kind", "Little Miss Honky Tonk", and "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone". The other two singles, "I'll Never Forgive My Heart" and "Whiskey Under the Bridge", both made top 10.[7] Allmusic critic Thom Owens thought that the album's singles were "solid", but that the rest of the songs were "filler".[20] A review of the single "She's Not the Cheatin' Kind" from the same site praised it for its "hard-driving, honky-tonk spirit".[21] Nash praised the honky-tonk sound of "I'll Never Forgive My Heart", but thought that most of the other songs relied on "contrivance".[22] Randy Lewis of the Orlando Sentinel gave a generally positive review, saying that the "minidrama" of "A Few Good Rides Away" (which Brooks co-wrote) was the strongest track on the album.[23]
Borderline[edit]
The first single from Brooks and Dunn's fourth album, Borderline, was a cover version of B.W. Stevenson's 1972 single "My Maria".[1] Their version of the song spent three weeks at number one in mid-1996 and peaked at number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100; it was also that year's top country song according to the Billboard Year-End charts.[24] Dunn said that he was initially reluctant to record "My Maria" because the duo had not previously recorded any cover songs.[25] The song won Brooks and 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, making them the first duo to win that award from the former.[3][25][26] In 1997, Brooks & Dunn joined a double-headliner tour with Reba McEntire.[27] Borderline produced another number one in "A Man This Lonely", along with the top-10 hits "I Am That Man" and "Why Would I Say Goodbye". "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing", the third single and B-side to "My Maria", became their first release not to make the top 10.[7]
Michael McCall of Allmusic and Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly both thought that the album's material was "cliché" and that "My Maria" was the strongest song on it.[28][29] A more positive review came from Larry Stephens of Country Standard Time, who thought that the album had "the right mix" of songs.[30]
The Greatest Hits Collection and If You See Her[edit]
Their first greatest hits compilation was released on September 16, 1997. It comprised most of their singles to that point and three new songs: "Honky Tonk Truth", "He's Got You", and "Days of Thunder". The first two were released as singles, with respective peaks of three and two on the country charts.[7] The Greatest Hits Collection was certified platinum in April 1998, and double-platinum in 2001.[15]
Musical style[edit]
Steve Huey of Allmusic contrasts Brooks' and Dunn's voices, saying that Dunn "was the quietly intense singer with the soulful voice, while Kix Brooks played the part of the high-energy showman".[1] He also describes their sound as "a winning formula of rambunctious, rocked-up honky tonk with punchy, danceable beats [alternated with] smooth, pop-tinged ballads".[1] In the book The New Generation of County Music Stars, David Dicaire describes Dunn as "possess[ing] a soulful voice with a quiet intensity" and a "traditional country singer", while calling Brooks "the opposite to Dunn's musical personality", "a high-energy showman" and "the perfect accompaniment to his partner".[36] Brooks sang lead on "Lost and Found", "Rock My World", "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone",[109] "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing",[110] "Why Would I Say Goodbye",[111] and "South of Santa Fe".[112]
Philanthropy and impact[edit]
In 2015, Brooks received the inaugural CMA Foundation "Humanitarian Award" as a reflection of his dedication to organizations such as Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, The Monroe Harding Children's Home, and the CMA Foundation. He was pivotal in the creation of the "Keep The Music Playing" program which is funded from proceeds of the CMA Music Fest. The campaign has provided more than $11M into Tennessee schools for music education since 2006.[113]
For several years, Dunn's annual "Rock The Barn" event at his home near Nashville raised money for charities such as Gilda's Club and the St. Thomas Breast Cancer Center.[114]