In 1988, country music singer-songwriters Leon “Kix” Brooks III and Ronnie Dunn joined forces at the urging of producer Tim DuBois. Given their 16 Vocal Duo of the Year trophies from the Country Music Association, we’d say it was a solid idea. Releasing their debut studio album, Brand New Man, in August 1991, everyone’s favorite honky-tonk pairing rattled off four straight No. 1 hits. Those included the title track, “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”, “My Next Broken Heart”, and “Neon Moon”.
On this day three years later—April 5, 1994—Brand New Man launched Brooks & Dunn into the history books as the first-ever album from a country music duo to sell 5 million copies. Their sophomore album, Hard Workin‘ Man, achieved quadruple status the same day.
The Story Behind Brooks & Dunn’s Debut Single
The decision to release Brand New Man‘s title track as the duo’s debut single was a strategic one, Ronnie Dunn told Wide Open Country in 2022.
Apparently, Arista Records’ Tim Dubois feared “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” was “too progressive” for country radio.
“Didn’t want to come with ‘Neon Moon’ which was a ballad,” Dunn said. “A shuffle like ‘My Next Broken Heart’ was going to be hard to sell to radio, so we came with ‘Brand New Man.’”
Brooks & Dunn wrote “Brand New Man”during their first songwriting session with co-producer Don Cook.
“I had this song idea called ‘I’m a Changed Man.’ Nothing beyond that. I just knew I was going to write the next day with Kix and Don,” Dunn said.
It was Brooks who suggested the title “Brand New Man.”
“I said, ‘Okay, let’s go there and see what happens,’” Dunn said. “So we wrote it, recorded it the next day.”
[RELATED: 3 Brooks & Dunn Hits That Ronnie Dunn Wrote by Himself (And Hit No. 1)]
“It Just Fell Out of the Sky on Us”
Surprisingly, the gambit paid off. “Brand New Man” made Brooks & Dunn only the second country music band in history to reach No. 1 with their debut single. Diamond Rio had achieved the same milestone with “Meet in the Middle” three months earlier.
“It just fell out of the sky on us,” Ronnie Dunn said.
Today, Brand New Man carries a seven-time multi-platinum distinction from the Recording Industry Association of America. More than three decades later, all but two of the duo’s albums have attained a platinum certification or higher.
“The fact that we literally got put together by a record [label] guy in 1990 and had four No. 1 hits in a row is just stupid,” Kix Brooks said in November 2024. “Especially to be here 34 years later still having the time of our lives and selling out shows.”
Featured image by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images