Twenty-nine years ago today, on May 26, 1992, Brooks & Dunn were toasting to their success. It was on that date that the then-new duo earned their first gold album, signifying sales of 500,000 units, for their freshman record, Brand New Man.
Brand New Man, which was released in August of 1991, featured four consecutive No. 1 hits: the title track, “My Next Broken Heart,” “Neon Moon” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn co-wrote four of the 10 tracks on the project, with either Brooks or Dunn having a hand in co-writing the other six.
By August of 1992, Brand New Man was certified platinum, for sales of 1 million copies, and by the end of the year, it had sold more than 2 million copies. To date, the album has been certified platinum six times, for sales of over 6 million copies. It remains their best-selling album so far.
Brooks and Dunn both started out as solo artists, before Tim DuBois, then the head of the Arista record label, suggested that they form a duo. Together, they released 10 studio albums, before announcing their split in 2009, with their 2010 Last Rodeo Tour being their final tour as a duo. In 2019, the pair returned with Reboot, a new album featuring some of their biggest hits as duets with modern country stars.
The year 1992 was a big one for Brooks & Dunn: The pair won their first two ACM Awards, for Top New Vocal Duet or Group and Top Vocal Duet of the Year. The pair also won their first CMA Awards trophy, for Vocal Duo of the Year.
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