Brooks & Dunn

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Brooks & Dunn
Image:Deuceswild345.jpg
Ronnie Dunn (left) and Kix Brooks (right).
Background information
Origin Image:Flag of the United States.svg Image:Flag of Texas.svg Coleman, Texas, USA
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Image:Flag of Louisiana.svg Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Genre(s) Country
Years active 1991 – Present
Label(s) Arista Nashville
Website www.brooksanddunn.com/
Members
Kix Brooks
Ronnie Dunn

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 Kix and Ronnie 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 Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Their debut album, Brand New Man, was released the same year and was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA for sales of over six million. Brooks & Dunn have had more than 40 singles on the country music charts of which 20 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.

Contents

[edit] Biographies

[edit] Ronnie Dunn

Ronnie Dunn was born Ronald Gene Dunn in Coleman, Texas on 1 June, 1953. A son of a "rambling, free spirited oil field worker" and a grounded, conservative Baptist mother, he attended 13 schools in his first 12 years of school. He began school in Blanca, New Mexico and finished his formal education at Abilene Christian University in 1974 as a psychology major. When Ronnie began playing bass guitar and singing with bands in clubs in the Abilene, Texas area, the university gave him the choice of either quitting the band or the university. He chose to leave the university and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has been married for 17 years to his wife, Janine, and has three children: Whitney, Jesse and Haley.

Dunn has won over 20 Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) awards, including Country Music Songwriter of the Year twice. He was Billboard Magazine's Country Songwriter of the Year for 1996. He is a member of both the Oklahoma and Arkansas Music Halls Of Fame.

Brooks and Dunn have won more Country Music Association awards and Academy of Country Music awards than any act in the history of country music. They have sold over 30 million records and continue to be one of the most consistently successful touring acts on the concert circuit. They opened for the Rolling Stones in 2006.

Ronnie began his musical career as a solo artist. He charted two minor singles on MCA Nashville in 1983 -- "It's Written All Over Your Face" and "She Put the Sad in All His Songs".

[edit] Kix Brooks

Kix was born Leon Eric Brooks, III in Shreveport, Louisiana on May 12, 1955. He has one sister, one half-sister, one half-brother and his father adopted one son of his third wife. After graduating from Sewanee Military Academy, he briefly attended LA Tech University as a Theatre Arts major. He moved to Alaska to work for his Father on an oil pipeline for one summer and then returned to LA Tech to finish his education. He then moved to Maine and wrote advertising for a company owned by his sister and brother-in-law. His father urged him to pursue his desire to become a musician, and Kix moved to Nashville in the early 1980s. His then girlfriend (now wife Barbara, with whom he has a son and daughter) followed shortly thereafter. He began working for Tree Publishing as a staff songwriter. He recorded his first solo single, "Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down," for Avion in 1983 but returned to songwriting after its failure.[1] He also released an album, Kix Brooks, in 1989 on Capitol Records. By 2000, he had won six BMI awards. As of January 2006, Kix Brooks is the new host of American Country Countdown, a well-known syndicated radio program formerly hosted by Bob Kingsley. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn live down the street from each other in an upscale neighborhood of Nashville called Brentwood.

[edit] Musical style

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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." They were also pioneers of the line dance craze of the mid-1990s. Also, they have been described as "rocked-up honky-tonk"[2] One of their biggest hits, "Boot Scootin' Boogie" - the video for which was made at the honky tonk, Tulsa City Limits Tulsa, Oklahoma - is most emblematic of this style.[3] Brooks & Dunn have been generally described as a group that ranges from country-pop to traditional country.

Both band members write, sing, and play guitar; Kix also plays mandolin. The duo writes or co-writes a large majority of their material, and self-penned successes include the 2003 smash "Red Dirt Road," which they wrote together. Both artists have served as songwriters for other artists, both before and during their careers as a duo. 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.[4]

[edit] On the Road

Brooks & Dunn are renowned for their high-energy stage shows. Recent tours have featured Australian country singer Keith Urban, fellow duo Montgomery Gentry, and successful country newcomer 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.

[edit] Other works

The duo have made numerous appearances on other artists' albums. Ronnie Dunn sang backup 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 newcomer Ashley Monroe's Top 40 single, "I Don't Want To".

[edit] Backup Band members

  • Lou Toomey - guitar
  • Terry McBride - bass guitar (former member of McBride & the Ride)
  • Dwain Rowe - keyboards, background vocals
  • Tony King - guitar, background vocals
  • 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

[edit] Discography

Main article: Brooks & Dunn discography

[edit] Awards

  • 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

[edit] Gallery

Deuceswild400.jpg
Ronniedunn001.jpg
Kixandronnie001.jpg

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links

it:Brooks & Dunn nl:Brooks & Dunn

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Brooks_%26_Dunn"
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