For eight years in a row, the Country Music Association bestowed on Brooks & Dunn its top "Duo of the Year" honors. Add to that an awesome 21 million records sold, one quintuple-platinum album, two quadruple-platinum albums, three triple-platinum albums, five double-platinum albums, six platinum albums and you witness a couple of guys who are always amongst the top drawing cards on the concert circuit. During the 1990s, Brooks and Dunn notched 27 Top 10 hits and 10 No. 1 hits.

Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn met in Nashville and immediately meshed with both their writing and performing styles. It was no time before they won a recording contract. In 1990 "Brand New Man," their debut single, hit No. 1, and their next single, "My Next Broken Heart," also soared to the top. In 1991, Brand New Man, their debut album, was released by Arista and scored immediate success and went triple platinum in 1993. The year 1992 brought out the song that had everyone kickin' dust, "Boot Scootin' Boogie." It became Brooks & Dunn's biggest hit and laid the foundation for the duo's second album, Hard Workin' Man. Success kept licking at the pair's boots, and in 1994, Arista released Waitin' On Sundown. In 1996, Borderline was released, followed by If You See Her in 1998.

The name for the album Tight Rope, which was released in 1999, refers to the cowboy's tight rope, needed for real tension when roping a steer. This tension, implying the dangerous, expresses the risk-taking Brooks & Dunn took with this album, which is completely different from their previous work. While "Boot Scootin' Boogie" put the dancing bug in folks, the love songs in Tight Rope pull at the heart-strings and reflect the new maturity that had developed in this awesome duo's latest collaboration.

Moving from the rope to the steer, Brooks & Dunn released a seventh studio album, Steers and Stripes, in 2001. Not ones to slow down, the duo hit the road and toured with the Neon Circus & Wild West Show. The tour featured several musical acts and a few circus acts. Circus acts? What better way to keep the audience entertained between musical acts.

Before Nashville, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn both came from the south; Brooks from Shreveport, Louisiana, and Dunn from Coleman, Texas.

Brooks started singing when he was quite young, and at age 12, made his performing debut with the daughter of Johnny Horton. He kept right on singing throughout high school as the opportunities unrolled. He worked the Alaskan pipeline before moving on to Maine, and from there, he eventually ended up in Nashville, singing and writing songs all along the way.

Dunn started playing bass while in high school. His dad's hobby was singing and playing guitar in a mountain string band. Although Dunn aimed to be a preacher, music seemed to be in his blood, so he started playing in honky-tonk bars.

After his family moved to Tulsa, Dunn played lead at Duke's Country. The independent Churchill label signed him on, and he came out with his first two hits in '83 and '84. A friend entered Dunn in a talent contest, and after winning the regionals, he competed at the Bullpen Lounge in Nashville, winning $30,000 plus a recording session. His material reached Arista, his future recording label, and Dunn made Nashville his home.

Brooks and his wife, Barbara, live in Nashville and love horse breeding. Dunn also lives in Nashville with his wife, Janine, and the two are fond of contemporary Russian art. Brooks and Dunn both have a knack for fun, and a look up high in the sky at the right time will provide a glimpse of "High Plains Drifter," the pair's hot air balloon.

Home is great for a while, but Brooks and Dunn respond to the love of their fans and it isn't long before they're out kickin' up the dust on the tour road again.