Country kings Brooks & Dunn are keeping the boot-scootin’ energy alive this spring — from a high-octane headlining set at the 2025 iHeartCountry Festival in Austin, Texas, to gearing up for a Red Dirt Road-ready performance with Cody Johnson at the 60th ACM Awards later this evening (May 8).
Celeb Secrets caught up with the legendary duo — Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn — backstage at the Moody Center ahead of their iHeartCountry Festival performance last Saturday (May 3), where they closed out the night with a nonstop string of chart-topping bangers, including “Brand New Man,” “My Maria,” “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “Only in America,” and (of course) “Red Dirt Road.” Other artists who took the stage throughout the night included Thomas Rhett, Rascal Flatts, Sam Hunt, Cole Swindell, Megan Moroney, Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith and special guest Dasha.
With a tight 30-minute set packed to the brim with hits, the energy was electric — and so were the guys.
“It’s gonna be fun. Could we not be [pumped]?” Ronnie joked before the show, while Kix added, “It’s kind of an award show jam, you know. Everybody’s out there doing their thing… Everybody tries to give it their best shot.”
When it came to choosing the songs for their crowd-pleasing finale, it wasn’t about what to play — it was about what they couldn’t leave out.
“You do it backwards,” Ronnie explained. “Instead of the ones you wanna do, you do the ones you can’t not do.”
“There won’t be a lot of talking,” Kix said with a laugh. “We love to chat too, but we’re just gonna have to go fast. We’re working!”
And they’ve been working hard, indeed. The duo just wrapped up their sold-out Neon Moon Tour across the country — one that brought in a whole new generation of Brooks & Dunn fans.
“I’m looking out at a lot of faces and I’m like, something’s different here,” Kix told us. “So I ask, ‘How many of y’all at your first Brooks & Dunn show?’ And the amount of hands that go up in that crowd — we just look at each other and smile. We’re like, well, welcome to the party. Being new is fun.”
Now, the duo is in Frisco, Texas, for the 60th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, where they’re nominated once again for Vocal Duo of the Year and are set to hit the stage with country powerhouse Cody Johnson.
While they tried to play coy during our backstage interview, the cat’s officially out of the bag — they’ll be performing their classic “Red Dirt Road” together during the big show.
“We did [‘Red Dirt Road’] on the ‘Reboot’ record,” Ronnie teased, before the two confirmed the collab with a smile.
As for being nominated again after all these years?
“It’s fun,” Kix said. “We’ve been working pretty hard at it lately. There was a period there where I was like, ‘Oh, we’re just names on there ‘cause they ran outta duos.’ But I feel proud of the music we’ve been making — certainly with our ‘Reboot’ records — and the tour’s been going great. So I guess… we’re one of ‘em.”
Whether they’re welcoming first-time fans to the honky-tonk party or teaming up with the new generation of country stars, one thing’s clear — Brooks & Dunn are still the reigning kings of country cool.
Don’t miss their performance with Cody Johnson at the 60th ACM Awards TONIGHT, May 8th @ 8PM ET/PT on Amazon Prime Video — and keep your boots polished, because this duo isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
For more on Brooks & Dunn, make sure to watch our full interview from the 2025 iHeartCountry Festival below.
