\n<\/p>\n
Brooks & Dunn<\/a> were not only country music’s most successful duo, they were as close as brothers \u2014 or so fans believed until Aug. 10, 2009, when the superstar duo abruptly announced their split after 20 years together.<\/p>\n “After 20 years of making music and riding this trail together, we have agreed as a duo that it\u2019s time call it a day,” Kix Brooks<\/a> and Ronnie Dunn<\/a>\u00a0said<\/a>. “This ride has been everything and more than we could ever have dreamed \u2026 We owe it all to you, the fans. If you hear rumors, don\u2019t believe them, it\u2019s just time.”<\/p>\n They released one final album,\u00a0\u00a0#1\u2019s \u2026 And Then Some<\/em>, on Sept. 8, 2009. Brooks & Dunn set out on their farewell Last Rodeo Tour and performed their last show on Sept. 3, 2010, in Nashville, and despite their claims that there was no animosity between them, they admitted that compromising had often been tough, with the end of the act almost coming a decade earlier.<\/p>\n The tension between Brooks & Dunn grew so strong in the late 1990s that they recorded songs for an\u00a0album in different studios and with different producers.<\/p>\n ’90s Country Stars That Need to Return!<\/strong><\/p>\n “Looking back, we should have just taken a break and let all the dust settle under us,” Dunn told USA Today<\/em><\/a> in 2009, with Brooks admitting, “There have always been hurt feelings. There have always been opinions.”<\/p>\n The end finally came over more disagreements about song choices.<\/p>\n “We both knew this was probably it,” Kix says. “He called back the next day and said, ‘I don\u2019t want to do this anymore.’ And I was in agreement. I really was. I was willing that day to try and work it out, but when he said, ‘This is it, I really think it is,’ I said, ‘I think it is, too’ \u2026 I was and still am totally at peace with it. It\u2019s a good time for us to stop.”<\/p>\n Though neither came close to the radio success of Brooks & Dunn, both performers enjoyed successful solo careers.<\/p>\n Brooks released\u00a0New to This Town<\/em>\u00a0in 2012, and Dunn released a self-titled solo album in 2011, followed by Peace, Love and Country Music<\/em> in 2014. Dunn has placed two Top 20 singles, “Bleed Red<\/a>”\u00a0and “Cost of Livin\u2019<\/a>,” while Brooks hosts a hugely popular national radio show and has worked extensively in film.<\/p>\n The duo reunited in 2015 for a Las Vegas residency with Reba McEntire<\/a> called Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas<\/a>, which has been so successful that it has been extended through December of 2021, and Brooks appeared on “Damn Drunk<\/a>,” a single from Dunn’s 2016 album,Tattooed Heart<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n The duo reunited in the studio for a new album, Reboot<\/em><\/a>, that featured them putting a new spin on their old hits in re-recordings with the younger generation of country singers, including Kacey Musgraves<\/a> and Luke Combs<\/a>. Reboot<\/em> debuted at No. 1 in April of 2019. In January 2020, they announced plans to reunite for a tour around the project, the 2020 Reboot<\/em> Tour<\/a>. That tour was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and\u00a0launched that September<\/a>.<\/p>\n A second\u00a0Reboot<\/em> album followed in 2024, and today, the country duo have pretty much reunited for good. They’ve been touring, including as an opening act for Morgan Wallen<\/a> in 2025 and 2026. They also won Duo of the Year at the 2025 CMAs and again at the 2026 ACMs.<\/p>\n Check Out the Airstream Ronnie Dunn Renovated for Reba!<\/strong><\/p>\n 10 Notable Entrepreneurs in Country Music<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n