Brooks & Dunn - History

History

Leon Eric "Kix" Brooks III was born May 12, 1955 in Shreveport, Louisiana, and before moving to Nashville in 1979, he played at various venues in Maine. He was also a neighbor of country singer Johnny Horton. Brooks worked as a songwriter in the 1980s, co-writing the number-one singles "I'm Only in It for the Love" by John Conlee, "Modern Day Romance" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and "Who's Lonely Now" by Highway 101 plus The Oak Ridge Boys' top 20 hit "You Made a Rock of a Rolling Stone", Nicolette Larson's "Let Me Be the First", and Keith Palmer's "Don't Throw Me in the Briarpatch". Brooks also released several singles through the independent Avion label, charting at number 73 on Hot Country Songs in 1983 with "Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down". In 1989, he released a self-titled studio album through Capitol Records. This album included "Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down" and the number 87 single "Sacred Ground", which McBride & the Ride covered and took to number two on the country charts in 1992. Brooks and Pam Tillis co-wrote and sang on "Tomorrow's World", a multi-artist single released on Warner Bros. Records in 1990 in honor of Earth Day, which peaked at number 74 on the country charts.

Ronnie Gene Dunn was born June 1, 1953 in Coleman, Texas. He played bass guitar in local bands during high school and he briefly studied theology at Hardin-Simmons University with the intention of becoming a Baptist preacher. Dunn was "kicked out" of the school because he played in bars. Dunn recorded for the Churchill label between 1983 and 1984, taking both "It's Written All Over Your Face" and "She Put the Sad in All His Songs" to number 59 on the country charts. In 1989, session drummer Jamie Oldaker entered Dunn in a talent contest sponsored by Marlboro, which Dunn won. The grand prize in the competition included a recording session in Nashville. The producer of that session, Scott Hendricks, recommended Dunn's recordings to Tim DuBois, then an executive of Arista Nashville. DuBois paired Brooks and Dunn because he thought that they would work well together as songwriters, and after the two recorded a demo, he suggested that they form a duo.