The 2019 Country Music Hall of Fame Inductees make history with most Top 10 albums on Billboard 200 by Country Duo or Group
The best-selling duo of all time, Brooks & Dunn, debuts at No. 1 this week on Billboardโs Top Country Albums chart with their collaboration project Reboot. Proving โthe timing couldnโt be better to celebrate the influence of Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooksโ (Music Row), the impressive feat marks the first time the duo has topped the album charts since 2009 while simultaneously earning the duo their 10th Billboard 200 Top 10 album, the most of any country duo or group in the chartโs history. The 12 track collection produced by Dann Huff โrevisits some of the duoโs most iconic songs with the genreโs hottest young talentsโ (PEOPLE) including Kane Brown, Thomas Rhett, Brett Young, LANCO, Ashley McBryde, Brothers Osborne, Luke Combs, Midland, Cody Johnson, Jon Pardi, Tyler Booth and Kacey Musgraves.
โWe always said that after all the crazy highs weโve had along this journey, that the most important thing to us was that the music that held up over time,โ states Ronnie Dunn. โTo have a No. One record with these songs we love is wild and weโre so happy to have worked on this project with so many current talents. It is a testament to the power of collaboration.โ
โThese songs are so important to us, and weโre so thankful that they have had this chance to have new life breathed into them,โ adds Kix Brooks. โWe had so much fun in the studio with everyone, itโs been a really special project for us.โ
To mark the release, the next inductees into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Brooks & Dunn, took an โelectrifying performanceโ (Billboard) of โBoot Scootinโ Boogieโ with Midland to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and a โthrilling takeโ (Rolling Stone) of โBrand New Manโ with Luke Combs to Academy of Country Music Awards.
With 20 No. 1 hits stretching back to 1991, two Grammy awards, dozens of ACM and CMA honors and a discography counting more album sales than any duo in history โ regardless of genre โ Brooks & Dunnโs influence on todayโs country has never been in question. Hits like โBoot Scootinโ Boogie,โ โMy Maria,โ โOnly in America,โ and โBelieveโ have propelled the duo to more than 30 million albums sold, with the New York Times heralding โtogether they helped drive the power-country era of the early-to-mid 1990’s and continued to benefit from the sea change in the genre they helped initiate right through their most recent albums.โ Their original โMerle Haggard meets The Rolling Stonesโ vibe made them progressive stars in their own right. In 2014, the duo announced their reunion along with long-time friend, Reba McEntire, for a residency called Together in Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesarโs Palace in Las Vegas, which received rave reviews and continues to be extended including more shows throughout this year.