Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn not only teamed with rising superstar Jelly Roll to deliver the performance of the night, but also snapped up a surprising, history-making win at the 58th annual Country Music Association Awards.
The iconic pair — Louisiana native Kix Brooks and former Tulsan Ronnie Dunn — won the vocal duo of the year prize at Wednesday’s CMA Awards, which aired live on ABC from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
It was Brooks & Dunn’s 15th victory in the category but first since 2006.
Brooks & Dunn, who were paired up in 1990 by Oklahoman Tim DuBois, who ran Arista Nashville at the time, garnered their first CMA Award in 1992 in the vocal duo category.
With their latest prize, the duo became the most-winning CMA Award victors of all time, with 19 total wins.
But acclaimed singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton earned four CMA Awards on the night — male vocalist of the year, song of the year for writing “White Horse” with Dan Wilson and a dual victory as the recording artist as well as one of the producers of “White Horse” — to tie Brooks & Dunn’s newly set record with 19 overall wins of his own.
“It’s shocking. I don’t know how we put it into words, honestly,” Dunn, who lived in Tulsa from 1974 to 1991 and considers it his hometown, told Billboard after the duo’s surprise win.
“‘Unexpected,’ I think, is a good word,” Brooks added.
How Brooks & Dunn teamed with Jelly Roll to make the CMA Awards audience ‘Believe’
A 2003 Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductee, Dunn got his big break in Tulsa in 1988, when he won the Marlboro National Talent Roundup. With that, the Coleman, Texas-born singer-songwriter caught the attention of DuBois, who introduced Dunn to Brooks, setting the stage for country music history.
Brooks & Dunn’s debut album, 1991’s “Brand New Man,” launched the duo to the top of the country charts, spawing four consecutive No. 1 hits with the title track, “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “My Next Broken Heart” and “Neon Moon.” Through the 1990s and 2000s, the duo racked up a slew of awards and hits, including “My Maria,” “That Ain’t No Way to Go,” “Rock My World (Little Country Girl),” “She’s Not the Cheatin’ Kind,” “Ain’t Nothing ’Bout You,” “Only in America,” “Red Dirt Road” and “Believe.”
After announcing in 2009 that they were ending their two-decade musical partnership, finishing their “Last Rodeo” trek in 2010 and embarking on solo careers, the duo reunited in 2014 alongside Oklahoma native Reba McEntire to play a successful Las Vegas residency that was extended more than once.
In 2019, Brooks & Dunn were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and released as a duo the album “Reboot,” in which they revisited their biggest hits as collaborations with emerging country stars like Kane Brown, Thomas Rhett, Ashley McBryde, Brothers Osborne, Luke Combs and Kacey Musgraves.
The best-selling country duo of all time released earlier this month the sequel collection, “Reboot II,” for which they teamed with more hot new talents, including Morgan Wallen, Megan Moroney, Warren Zeiders, Riley Green, Halestorm and Oklahoma native Corey Kent.
“Reboot II” also includes Brooks & Dunn’s new version of their ballad “Believe” featuring breakout star Jelly Roll, who performed more than once on Wednesday’s CMA Awards.
But it was his impassioned collab with the duo — including Brooks on grand piano and Dunn sharing vocals with Jelly Roll — that metaphorically took the star-studded crowd to church and literally brought it to its collective feet. Backed by a choir and orchestra, their performance had some celebrity attendees singing along, while others were moved to tears.
