Brooks & Dunn Share How Their Relationship Has Evolved Over The Years
on Jun 26, 2025
Country Stars Brooks & Dunn Open Up About Their Unique Bond
Legendary country music artists Brooks & Dunn, made up of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, have had a lasting relationship and incredibly successful career.
First joining together in 1990, the two have had quite the journey through the years in the industry.
The two recently opened up in an interview about how their professional relationship has evolved, and that much like most duos in the business, they have had many ups and downs.
“We do like one another… just over time. I mean, we were thrown together. You know, 1990, and just told to go write songs, we didn’t know what we were doing or what project,” Ronnie admitted.
Kix explained that joining forces was ultimately an incredible thing for both of them, as they start to saw immediate success they never witnessed on their own.
“I mean 35 years, a lot of ebb and flow, for sure. We’ve both been doing this a long time without a whole lot to show for it, honestly. And all of a sudden #1, #1, #1. You’re like, ‘What in the hell?’ It’s just weird when you beat up bars and you work so hard and you feel like you’re every bit as good then a you’ now but what just happened?,” Kix said.
The Duo’s Rocky Start
Ronnie shared that the pair didn’t even know who would be the lead singer when they first started out, which made things a bit uncomfortable.
“You start at that level, you don’t even know who’s gonna be the lead singer, or if there is gonna be a lead singer. It was awkward. I don’t know that we ever had that discussion,” he said.
Kix explained that he knew Ronnie was the man for the job, but it was hard to admit at the time. He raved that Ronnie’s incredible voice was ultimately what made him realize it was the right decision.
“Ronnie was singing hits right off the bat, even though we wrote ‘Next Broken Heart’ and ‘Brand New Man,’ he grabbed it. I couldn’t have sung either one of those songs near that well. It’s easy for me to look back on it, I think. We’re both trying so hard with our egos involved, not knowing how it’s gonna go, you know. But it shook out to me, realizing, really, what a great singer he is,” Kix said.
RELATED: Why Brooks & Dunn Doubted They Would Ever Be Successful
Brooks & Dunn – An Exciting Comeback
Brooks & Dunn were initially brought together by record executive Tim DuBois after many years trying to make it big as solo artists.
After 20 years together, the duo eventually announced in 2010 they were parting ways to explore their own projects once again.
However, with the help of Reba McEntire, the two joined forces in 2015 for a Las Vegas residency.
“We’ve been through freaking miles of up and down, and mud, and running through the freaking daisies out there. It’s just, it’s crazy to look back on, even going through 2010 when we quit and meant it. But it didn’t take but a couple of years and a couple of gigs showed up and we never really lost that, whatever it is, that happens onstage. Especially when Reba got involved, you know, we’d done a couple of big tours with her,” Kix shared.
He admitted that the show helped remind him how much “fun” the two truly had together over the years, when they put their differences to the side and performed their hits.
“We both had a pretty good handful of hits and, like, d*** this is fun. And it just reminded us, this is great. And to put this thing together with Reba, d***, we got a hillbilly band back there, or a honky-tonk band that’s the truth. Let’s go bang that again cause that really was fun you know. Just get over our BS,” he continued.
