Brooks and Dunn win ACM Duo of the Year—and Admit Awards ‘Freak Us Both Out’
From their 2010 split to their long-awaited reunion and tour, here’s why their ACM win feels huge
Key Takeaways
- Brooks & Dunn won ACM Duo of the Year at the 61st annual ACM Awards after 36 years together.
- The duo split in 2010 but reunited for a Las Vegas residency in 2015.
- Brooks & Dunn say the split was "the best thing that ever happened to us."
Brooks & Dunn took home Duo of the Year at the 61st annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards, proving that even 36 years later, they’ve still got the boot scootin’ boogie. But the win wasn’t the only thing that got people talking. During the award show, fans were amazed by the duo’s incredible longevity in the country music industry. Want to know more about these country legends and what their win means? Keep reading!
Get to know Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn was founded in 1990 by Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. They quickly skyrocketed to fame in 1991 when their song “Brand New Man” hit number one on the Hot Country Songs.
From there the two continued to climb, releasing 10 studio albums, one holiday album and five compilation albums. They also won two Grammy Awards in the Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category in 1992 and 1996, were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015 and are among the most-decorated acts in ACM history, with the second-highest total number of wins.
“I feel like basically, the things that we write are an evolution of our influences and the things that we really love,” Brooks told American Songwriter earlier this year. “We were really chasing what was coming out of Austin at the time in the ’70s—Willie [Nelson] and Jerry Jeff [Walker] and Waylon [Jennings] and all that kind of stuff. Guy Clark for sure, and Townes Van Zandt. Those progressive Texas songwriters were a big influence on me….I always loved the Rolling Stones and Allman Brothers. I like rock music with great lyrics.”
The Brooks & Dunn split
After decades of friendship, songwriting and touring, Brooks & Dunn split up in 2010. At the time, the duo said it was nothing personal and that they just wanted to move on.
“Nothing lasts forever,” Brooks explained at the time, per The Boot. “We’ve had this process of making records and getting ready for tours year after year … When we were going through, trying to get an album together this year, putting songs back and forth, and the push and pulling, it hit us both: We’ve done all kinds of music you can think of, done every way we could think of doing it for 20 years. We’ve worn this thing every way we know how to wear it! We realized at that point, this may be it.”
Thankfully the split wasn’t permanent. In 2015 they reunited for a Las Vegas residency, along with their good friend Reba McEntire. They released two albums, entitled Reboot and Reboot II, in 2019 and 2024, and they started touring again, a move fans loved.
“We took a break in 2010 which, looking back, is the best thing that ever happened to us,” Brooks said at the 2026 ACM Awards. “Ronnie and I, now we really smile at each other on stage.”
Brooks & Dunn at the 2026 ACM Awards
After winning the 2026 Duo of The Year award at the 61st ACM Awards, which they received for their highly successful tour and their impact on country music as a whole, Brooks & Dunn went to the press room to reflect on the moment.
“We don’t take anything for granted,” Brooks told reporters. “You’ll never see us pull a piece of paper out of our pocket to thank our managers in the record label, and our mothers…We’ve never asked each other in 35 years, what should we say? Who should go to the microphone first? Anything. We don’t look at each other when they’re talking, when they’re introducing the duos or anything. The whole thing freaks us both out, and that’s the truth.”
Dunn added to that, saying, “We don’t obviously don’t rehearse or write acceptance speeches, because we’re superstitious.”
“The first time we showed up to one of these things, we got lucky and won two, and we were sitting in the middle of the back somewhere, so that means you’re not really expected to win,” he continued. “Music is wild west right now. Streaming kicked in, and I don’t know how deep I need to go with that, other than to say it just brought a whole new world to the table.”
Brooks & Dunn tour
Along with going to the ACMs, Brooks & Dunn are also coming to a city near you! The duo is going on a cross-country tour all summer and you can purchase tickets here.
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