Brooks & Dunn

articleissues
expand=May 2008
refimprove=May 2008Infobox musical artist
Name = Brooks & Dunn

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Img_capt = Ronnie Dunn (left) and Kix Brooks (right).
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Coleman, Texas, USA
Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Genre = Country
Years_active = 1991-present
Label = Arista Nashville
URL = [http://www.brooksanddunn.com/ www.brooksanddunn.com/]
Current_members = Kix Brooks
Ronnie Dunn
Associated_acts = McBride & the Ride
Reba McEntire
ZZ Top

Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo, consisting of singer-songwriters Kix Brooks (born Leon Eric Brooks III, May 12, 1955 in Shreveport, Louisiana) and Ronnie Dunn (born Ronald Gene Dunn, June 1, 1953 in Coleman, Texas). Both Brooks and Dunn had worked as singer-songwriters before the duo's formation, charting singles of their own in the late 1980s.

The duo made its debut in 1991 with their first four singles all reaching the top of the U.S. "Billboard" country music charts. Their debut album, "Brand New Man", was released the same year and was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA. Brooks & Dunn have had more than forty singles on the country music charts, twenty of which have reached number one. They have recorded ten studio albums, two greatest-hits compilations, and a Christmas album.

Brooks & Dunn also won the Country Music Association Vocal Duo of the Year award every year between 1992 and 2006, except for 2000 when Montgomery Gentry took the honor. In addition, Brooks & Dunn won the Entertainer of the Year award in 1996. Two of the duo's singles have also been named as "Billboard" magazine's Number One country singles of the year: "My Maria" (1996) and "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" (2001). Since early 2006, Kix Brooks has also hosted American Country Countdown, a nationally syndicated radio program which counts down the Top 40 country singles in the United States as determined by the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts.

Musical style

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." Their up-tempo numbers have been described as "rocked-up honky-tonk". One of their biggest hits, "Boot Scootin' Boogie", is most emblematic of this style. Brooks & Dunn have been generally described as a group that ranges from country-pop to traditional country.cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hifexql5ldae~T1 |title=Brooks & Dunn biography |accessdate=2007-07-25 |last=Huey |first=Steve |format=html |work=Allmusic]

Both Kix and Ronnie are vocalists, songwriters, and guitarists; Kix plays mandolin as well. 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, and he has not sung lead on any of the duo's singles since 1999's "South of Santa Fe".

On the Road

Brooks & Dunn are renowned for their high-energy stage shows. In 2008, Brooks & Dunn have paired up with ZZ Top and Rodney Atkins for a tour. It is titled Cowboy Town. This concert has been shown on GAC as well. Other recent tours have featured Australian country singer Keith Urban, fellow duo Montgomery Gentry, and 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 and embarked on their 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 2000 election and 2004 re-election campaigns. In 2000 then Texas Governor Bush 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. "Only in America" was played after Democrat Barack Obama gave his nomination acceptance speech in 2008.

Brooks & Dunn have recently completed their first tour in Australia.

Other works

The duo have made numerous appearances on other artists' albums, both together and separately. Ronnie Dunn sang an uncredited duet vocal 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 on Ashley Monroe's 2006 single "I Don't Want To".

Backing band

*Lou Toomey - guitar
*Terry McBride - bass guitar (former member of McBride & the Ride)
*Dwain Rowe - keyboards, background vocals
*Tony King - guitar, background vocals (former member of Matthews, Wright & King)
*Jimmy Stewart - fiddle, acoustic guitar, banjo
*Gary Morse - steel guitar, lap steel guitar, Dobro
*Trey Gray - drums
*Kim Parent - background vocals
*Trez Gregory - background vocals
*Julie Downs - background vocals

Discography

Awards

*2008 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2007 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2007 Academy of Country Music Vocal Event of the Year for "Building Bridges" with Vince Gill and Sheryl Crow
*2006 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*2006 CMA Music Video of the Year "Believe"
*2006 CMA Single of the Year "Believe"
*2006 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2006 Academy of Country Music Song of the Year "Believe"
*2005 Billboard Music Awards Favorite Country Group
*2005 American Music Awards Favorite Band, Duo or Group
*2005 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*2005 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2005 People's Choice Awards Favorite Country Group
*2004 American Music Awards Favorite Band, Duo or Group
*2004 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*2004 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2003 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*2003 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2003 "CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music" - Ranked #25.
*2002 CMT Flameworthy Video Music Awards Group/Duo Video of the Year
*2002 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*2002 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2001 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*2001 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*2000 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*1999 TNN/Music City News Vocal Group or Duo of the Year
*1999 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1998 TNN/Music City News Vocal Group or Duo of the Year
*1998 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1997 TNN/Music City News Vocal Duo of the Year
*1997 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1997 American Music Awards Favorite Band, Duo or Group
*1997 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo/Group
*1996 Grammy Best Country Performance by Duo/Group w/Vocals
*1996 CMA Entertainer of the Year
*1996 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1996 Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year
*1996 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*1995 TNN/Music City News Vocal Group/Duo of the Year
*1995 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1994 TNN/Music City News Vocal Duo of the Year
*1994 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1994 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*1993 TNN/Music City News Vocal Duo of the Year
*1993 Grammy Best Country Performance by Duo/Group w/Vocals
*1993 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1993 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*1992 CMA Vocal Duo of the Year
*1992 Academy of Country Music Album of the Year
*1992 Academy of Country Music Single of the Year
*1992 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo
*1991 Academy of Country Music Top New Vocal Duo/Group
*1991 Academy of Country Music Top Vocal Duo

Gallery

References

*Orr, Jay (1998). "Brooks & Dunn". In "The Encyclopedia of Country Music". Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 55-6.

External links

* [http://www.brooks-dunn.com/ Brooks & Dunn Official Website]
* [http://orlando.metromix.com/music/photogallery/brooks-and-dunn/523073/content Brooks & Dunn Concert Photos]