Brooks & Dunn almost split in 2000

Superstar country duo BROOKS & DUNN were living on borrowed time when they split in 2010 because they almost called it quits in 2000 after the failure of their 1999 album TIGHT ROPE.
Singer Kix Brooks reveals he and his longtime pal Ronnie Dunn had drifted apart and were ready to call time on their stint as a duo.
He tells Country Weekly, “We had a record called Tight Rope that hadn’t done really well, and we were just getting kind of threadbare. We weren’t really writing together anymore, and we were just kind of done.”
Brooks credits former Sony Music Chairman Joe Galante with persuading the pair to give their partnership one more shot.
He continues, “Joe sat down with us and just convinced us we still had some music to make. He said, ‘If I’m wrong, then you can shut it down. But I don’t think I am.’ We had so much respect for him and his legend. Neither one of us knew him, but we said, ‘OK. This guy is for real, and he’s a big-time guy.'”
Galante was right and helped Brooks & Dunn score another huge hit with Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You, the debut single from their follow up album, Steers & Stripes, in 2001.
Brooks adds, “(Galante) said, ‘I just want you to record one song for me. I really think it’s a hit.’ We started winning awards again. I was like, ‘What the heck? I guess we’re back on the bus again.’ It was another 10 years before we said, ‘We really are done this time.'”
Brooks & Dunn eventually split in 2010, but are now preparing to reunite for a Las Vegas residency with Reba McEntire this June (15).