www.whiskeyriff.com
Brooks & Dunn Believe They Still “Have The Juice” To Make A New Record
Ain’t slowing down yet.
Brooks & Dunn is experiencing a massive career resurgence this year. The famed ’90s duo just extended their ACM Award record for most Duo of the Year wins, making them the most awarded duo in ACM history with 31 total awards.
.@BrooksandDunn are officially the ACM Duo of the Year! This marks their first win in the category in 15 YEARS. #ACMawards pic.twitter.com/YHhlWEISMY
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) May 9, 2025
Outside of the ACM Awards, they also received the CMA Award for Vocal Duo of the Year, marking their first win in that category since 2006, making it their 15th time to win the award.
So what marked Brooks & Dunn’s return to the thick of it? They won awards while having other duos like Muscadine Bloodline, Brothers Osborne, or the War and Treaty as their fellow nominees. A huge reason for this is their latest record, Reboot II. In 2019, the duo revisited some of their biggest hits, their first reimagination album, Reboot, with guest performances from some of the best in the business. We’re talking the likes of Cody Johnson, Luke Combs, Kacey Musgraves, Jon Pardi and more.
After Reboot‘s success, the Grammy Award-winning duo decided to run it back, but this time with a new set of rules.
Ronnie Dunn says:
“The premise of the project was ‘No rules.’ For this one, we purposely loosened the screws and turned ‘em loose to do whatever they wanted. We actually went way off the rails, in a good way.”
Kix Brooks adds:
“This project is a lot more out of bounds. Artists were going, ‘Would it be okay if we did this?’ It was like ‘Yeah! Let’s do it.’ We dealt with rock bands and blues bands and all kinds of genres, all over the place.”
Reboot II featured famed artists like Morgan Wallen, Marcus King, Megan Moroney, Lainey Wilson, and more. The record was a smash hit, and it allowed many of the featured artists to live out their dream of recreating a song they grew up on with their own twist. While this record breathes new life into some of their old hits, the duo noted that this might have gotten the wheels turning for them to produce some new music.
Brooks & Dunn have not released new material since 2007 with Cowboy Town, but in a recent interview with Billboard, it sounds like they might be thinking about getting back in the studio. With their new label chiefs at Sony Nashville—chairman/CEO Hilary Lindsey and president/COO Ken Robold are encouraging the two to think about recording some new material.
Kix Brooks told the outlet.
“We’re kicking along. We’re working on it, we’re pushing that row. We’ve got a label that we had a really great meeting with. They can’t make us make a record, but they would love to see us do it. They don’t want to put out a record that’s not a great record.”
He added that while they would love to make a new record, they aren’t willing to sacrifice the legacy they’ve made just to put out a new record. They know that if they do it, it has to be just right, and if they don’t release a new album, they feel like their career is still in good standing.
“He’s not a country artist, but I love quoting Billy Joel. He said ‘I haven’t made a new record in [32] years and it’s working quite well.’”
So will they or won’t they? It’s still up for debate, but Ronnie Dunn thinks they still have “the juice” to make a new record that fans would love.
“I still think we have the juice to be able to sell a new one. I just want to put one more through the goal posts.”
Even if they don’t do a whole record, the idea that they are even thinking about hitting the studio again to record some new music is beyond exciting. Heck, I’d take a new single if that’s all they had.
No matter what they choose to do, Brooks & Dunn have earned the title of living legends for a reason, and their career has been beyond incredible. Even to have a resurgence like this from the release of Reboot II is something to admire.
Before you go, check out their performance of “Red Dirt Road” with Cody Johnson from this year’s ACM Awards.
The post Brooks & Dunn Believe They Still “Have The Juice” To Make A New Record first appeared on Whiskey Riff.