Brooks & Dunn Reveals to Sammy Hagar How Their Childhoods Led Them to Country Music Stardom

Brooks & Dunn burst onto the country music scene in the early ‘90s with their debut album Brand New Man. That album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, produced four consecutive No. 1 singles, and put them on the path to be one of the most successful duos in the genre’s history. Today, the duo is synonymous with the phrase “’90s country.”

Recently, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn joined Sammy Hagar on his show Rock & Roll Roadtrip. During the episode, they talked about their careers, being a duo, writing songs, their love for country and rock music, and more. At one point, they revealed how their early lives led them to country music stardom.

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[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Kix Brooks Wrote for Brooks & Dunn]

Brooks & Dunn Were Raised on Country Music

“When you were growing up, what were you listening to? Were you a country guy out of the box or would you go through different music?” Sammy Hagar asked Kix Brooks. “I grew up literally about three blocks from Hank Williams’ widow, Billie Jean. She was married to Johnny Horton after Hank died,” Brooks said. He added that he was friends with the Hortons’ daughter. “My first gig at 12 years old was actually in their driveway.”

Billie Jean Horton was more than the wife of two of the biggest country stars of the first half of the 20th century. She was also a singer, songwriter, and promoter with a solo career all her own. So, Brooks was exposed to a heavy dose of classic country in his formative years.

Then, Hagar asked the other half of Brooks & Dunn the same question. Like Brooks, Dunn grew up on country music. “My dad was a wannabe country singer and had a radio show in Abilene, Texas when I was growing up. [Country music] was always in the house,” Dunn recalled. “The prized possession of my dad’s Martin guitar. A D28,” he added.

“I remember him, for real Sammy, in Midland, Texas, there was a tornado on the ground. He had the family in the car and he had one of his buddies with us. They took off to go to the house—toward the tornado—to get that guitar,” Dunn said.

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