Country Music Memories: ‘Brand New Man’ Goes Triple Platinum
Twenty-eight years ago today (June 23, 1993) was a record-breaking day for Brooks & Dunn – and for country music. It was on that date that B&D’s debut album, Brand New Man, was certified triple platinum, making them the first country music duo to sell 3 million copies of an album.
Brand New Man, which was released on Aug. 13, 1991, includes four consecutive No. 1 hits: the title track, “My Next Broken Heart,” “Neon Moon” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” Produced by Don Cook and Scott Hendricks, the record features 10 songs, all of which were written by either Kix Brooks or Ronnie Dunn; the two men co-wrote four of the tracks together.
Brand New Man has sold more than 6 million copies to date, and it won an ACM trophy for Album of the Year, with “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” also taking home an ACM for Single of the Year. The guys were both surprised by their instant success, but one country music legend knew that they had something magical with their freshman record.
“I remember Bill Anderson was doing a radio show at Opryland when we first got started,” Brooks recalls to CMT. “”Brand New Man” had really taken off. He said, ‘Boys, do you know what it means to have your career song as your very first single?’ We looked at each other. ‘It’s over?! Dang, Bill!’ He just put a period on our career with our first dang song.”
While eight of Brooks & Dunn’s 10 studio albums have been certified at least platinum, none of their subsequent records met the same sales success of Brand New Man. But thankfully, the duo had many more “career songs”: They charted 50 singles, including 20 that went all the way to No. 1.
Brooks & Dunn reunited for a Las Vegas residency with Reba McEntire in 2015. The Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas shows went so well that the concert collaboration has continued. In 2019, they released Reboot, an album of hits re-imagined as collaborations with some of today’s big country stars.
This story was originally written by Gayle Thompson, and revised by Annie Zaleski.
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