Merle Haggard Once “Chewed Out” Kix Brooks Over Decision To Split From Ronnie Dunn
on Jul 29, 2026
As it turns out, Merle Haggard is a big part of the reason Brooks & Dunn are still together today.
Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn have established themselves as one of the most iconic country music duos of all time. Since their start in 1991, Brooks & Dunn have released 13 studio albums, charted 20 number-one hits, and are the recipients of 32 ACM Awards, 20 CMA Awards, and two Grammy Awards.
They are the best-selling duo in the history of the genre, with more than 30 million records sold worldwide. However, in 2010, they almost called it quits forever.
That year, they announced that they would officially end their partnership after their The Last Rodeo Tour concluded. Kix assured fans that there was no animosity between the two but felt that it was time to move on. He shared at the time:
“It’s too good a horse to ride it into the ground. We’re still good friends. I’m proud to say we’ve never had a fight, never even yelled at each other. And that’s the truth.”
Kix Brooks Says Merle Haggard “Chewed His Butt” Over The Split
In a conversation with RDV-TV, Kix Brooks reminisced on one of the “most important” interviews he had ever done, with none other than country icon Merle Haggard. Kix recalled:
“He had already chewed my butt because Ronnie and I stopped in 2010. We really thought we’d gone as far as we could. And he chewed me out then…”
At the time, Brooks & Dunn were touring with Merle and were preparing to play a sold-out show in Woodstock, New York. Kix continued:
“He’s looking out the window, and he goes, ‘What the hell are y’all doing?’ I went, ‘I don’t know Merle, what are we doing?’ ‘All those people out there, why would you stop playing?’”
The “Red Dirt Road” singer recalled feeling burnt out at the time from 20 years of touring with virtually no breaks. He admitted that the pair just “needed a breath.” Each year, they expected things to slow down, only to be surprised when their momentum continued to build.
Fast forward a few years to when Kix sat down with Merle for an episode of American Country Countdown, and the Hag once again took the opportunity to question the split. He held no punches and asked directly, “When are you two getting back together and doing your job?”
When Kix did not have an answer, Merle imparted these words of wisdom on him:
“You two got a thing. Everybody doesn’t get that opportunity. There’s no explaining why you two are so successful except you write good songs, and whatever, but at the level you guys have gotten to, don’t waste that. You guys have a thing, and you need to get back to work.”
Afterward, Kix sent the interview to his former duet partner. That’s all it took to “really put a fire underneath” the pair. They would officially reunite in 2015.
Hear Kix Brooks tell the story of how Merle Haggard influenced the future of Brooks & Dunn in the video below!
