Brooks & Dunn Admit They Thought They Wouldn’t Make It 3 Years – “We Didn’t Know Each Other”

An unexpected partnership that has stood the test of time.

Brooks & Dunn are, without a doubt, one of the most iconic groups to emerge from the ’90s country movement. Striking gold with their debut single, “Brand New Man,” they came out of the gates swinging and have never looked back since. With the release of their most recent record, Reboot II, Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks are feeling more motivated than ever to keep going, sharing that they believe they “still have the juice” to make a new record.

It’s been a long road to get to this point in their career, with the idea of being in a country duo not on either of their bingo cards 30+ years ago.

Before joining forces as a duo, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn were chasing a dream of becoming country stars on their own, but had yet to break through as solo artists. Although Kix Brooks had aspirations of being a solo artist, he achieved greater success as a songwriter. Kix was a master with words, penning a few number-one hits, including “I’m Only In It for the Love” for John Conlee and “Modern Day Romance” for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Ronnie Dunn was signed to an independent label and released several traditional singles. He then relocated to Nashville with his wife after winning the Marlboro Talent Search competition in 1988. Once in Music City, music engineer and producer Scott Hendricks brought Ronnie to the attention of Arista Records Nashville chief Tim DuBois.

Tim DuBois is the man we can thank for the union of Brooks & Dunn, because after getting to know the two men, he saw something no one else did: they would be unstoppable as a duo. While Tim DuBois saw something special in the power of Ronnie Dunn & Kix Brooks together, the two men were not initially sold on the idea.

During CMA Fest, the 2024 CMA Duo of the Year sat down with ESPN’s Marty Smith and Ryan McGee to talk about their career and divulged that they didn’t think they’d make it more than a few years.

Ronnie Dunn shares that they were first paired up to create a country duo group, they knew they wanted to have a long career, but frankly speaking, they did not think they’d have a long career together.

“We really didn’t believe it. The record company guy put together, and we screwed up and wrote a couple of hits later that week.

We made a three-year plan, which we thought was really stupid, you know? We were like, “We’d never make it three years.’ We didn’t know each other, so to think that we are sitting here thirty years later… Kind of brothers at this point.” 

Marty and McGee then share that they have had their program for over a decade and often look to the success of Brooks & Dunn when they feel like they might have run their course and need to find new inspiration to keep going in a professional partnership. When asked how they’ve managed to work together this far, Ronnie Dunn shares that a quote from George Harrison’s wife inspires them to keep going.

“They asked George Harrison’s wife, ‘What’s the secret to a long marriage?’ And she sat there for a minute, then went, ‘Just stay married. Keep doing it.’ Everything between that is a (lets out a long sigh), deep breath.”

Kix Brooks then adds:

“Generally, we keep our disagreements to disagreements, you know? Never raised our voices to each other, couple of hard-headed guys that came up with pipeline dads and whatever, you know. It’s not that we don’t know how to throw a fit… but we just go to our separate corners and, you know, come back with a different attitude at least.”

Ronnie Dunn agrees, noting that you have to “take the bullets out of the gun” before settling a disagreement. While I’m sure they have had their fair share of spats throughout their career, communication is key to a successful partnership, and it sounds like they know exactly how to resolve their conflict and move on.

However, just because they can talk through their issues does not mean it’s always been smooth sailing. With the release of their Reboot II record, they’ve experienced a huge career resurgence, again demonstrating the enduring power of the ’90s country sound to a new generation and building on the groundwork laid on their 2019 record, Reboot.

In an interview earlier this year, the duo admitted that when they took a brief break in 2009, Reba’s inclusion of them in her Vegas residency was a significant factor in their decision to return to touring. But before that moment, Ronnie candidly said:

“We tried to blow it real hard.”

It’s expected for there to be highs and lows in anyone’s career, but from the fan perspective, it’s always cool to hear how transparent Brooks & Dunn have been on sharing their highs and lows. They are about as real as it gets, both on and off the stage.

Country fans are certainly glad that the three-year pack was extended into many more three-year packs, providing fans with numerous country music classics.

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