Brooks and Dunn Final Concert in Nashville

Their first song was their last. The legendary country music duet of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn ended last night on Nashville’s biggest stage.

Their first single came out in  1991 “Brand New Man,” and Brooks and Dunn closed out their twenty year career with the number during their encore.

Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena was the last stop on their Last Rodeo Tour. All proceeds from the concert were to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

“This isn’t a funeral. We did show up to party.”

Kix Brooks said to get the place in the right mood. The country music superstars have won 80 major music industry awards and sold more than 30 million albums.

The country music duet had 23 #1 singles and sang many of them including:

• “Neon Moon,”
• “My Maria,”
• “Red Dirt Road”
• “Boot Scootin’ Boogie”

The only guest was Reba McEntire who sang just a few lines of the hit “Cowgirls Don’t Cry.”

The pair were in good spirits, both cracking jokes about their final day as an act.

Kix Brooks blamed it on his crazy concert ideas, like picking old songs and hoping the crowd would help if he forgot the words.

Ronnie Dunn said he was jealous of the cowboy hats Brooks got to wear all these years, adding that’s the reason he has a tattoo of the word “Cowboy” on his right forearm.

“Most importantly, to the people who paid our rent for the last twenty years, all I can say is, ‘Thanks.’”

As they left the stage to the cheers and tears, Brooks gave Dunn a “older brother” shove.

Photo: Bama Jam 2009 by {just jennifer}