Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist, actor, and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

best known for being one half of the duo

Brooks & Dunn Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were so ...

and host of radio's ''

American Country Countdown ''American Country Countdown'', also known as ''ACC'', is a weekly internationally syndicated radio program which counts down the top 40 country songs of the previous week, from No. 40 to No. 1, according to the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay ch ...

''. Prior to the duo's foundation, he was a singer and songwriter, charting twice on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

and releasing an album for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. Brooks and

Ronnie Dunn Ronald Gene Dunn (born June 1, 1953) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record executive. Starting in 2011, Dunn has worked as a solo artist following the temporary dissolution of Brooks & Dunn. He released his self-titled deb ...

comprised Brooks & Dunn for twenty years, then both members began solo careers. Brooks's solo career after Brooks & Dunn includes the album '' New to This Town''. In 2019, Brooks & Dunn were inducted into the

Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amas ...

Early life

Brooks grew up in Shreveport,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. He has a sister, a half-sister, and a half-brother; his father also adopted a son of his third wife. After graduating from the former

Sewanee Military Academy St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School is a private, coeducational, Episcopal, boarding and day college preparatory school serving 216 students in grades six through twelve. It is located in Sewanee, Tennessee on the Cumberland Plateau between Nashvill ...

, an Episcopal school in

Sewanee Sewanee may refer to: * Sewanee, Tennessee * Sewanee: The University of the South * ''The Sewanee Review'', an American literary magazine established in 1892 * Sewanee Natural Bridge * Saint Andrews-Sewanee School See also * Suwanee (disambiguati ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, Brooks attended

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

in Ruston as a

theatre arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

major. He moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

to work with his father on an oil

pipeline Pipeline may refer to: Electronics, computers and computing * Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on ** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...

for one summer, then returned to Louisiana Tech to finish his education. After graduating, he moved to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

to write advertising for a company owned by his sister and brother-in-law.

Musical career

Brooks' father urged him to pursue his desire to become a musician, and he moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tennessee, in the early 1980s. His then-girlfriend (now wife Barbara, with whom he has a son and daughter) followed shortly thereafter. He worked for Tree Publishing as a staff songwriter. He recorded his first solo single, "Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down", for Avion in 1983, but returned to songwriting after it only reached number 73 on the

chart. Brooks and Dan Tyler co-wrote "

Modern Day Romance "Modern Day Romance" is a song written by Kix Brooks and Dan Tyler and recorded by American country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in vario ...

", released by

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant ...

in June 1985; it became the band's second No. 1 hit on the country chart. Brooks released an album, ''

Kix Brooks Leon Eric Brooks III, better known by his stage name Kix Brooks (born May 12, 1955), is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's ''American Country Co ...

'', in 1989 on Capitol Records. This album also featured the song " Sacred Ground" which became a No. 2 country hit for

McBride & the Ride McBride & the Ride is an American country music band consisting of Terry McBride (lead vocals, bass guitar), Ray Herndon (background vocals, guitars), and Billy Thomas (background vocals, drums). The group was founded in 1989 through the assista ...

in 1992. He was one half of country music duo

. Their 1991 debut album, ''

Brand New Man ''Brand New Man'' is the debut studio album by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn. It was released on August 13, 1991, by Arista Records. Produced by Don Cook and Scott Hendricks, the album produced four consecutive Number One singles on ...

'', generated four number-one hit singles on the country charts. Brooks usually provided backing vocals on their songs and singles. The singles featuring Brooks on lead vocals include, "

You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn. It was released in June 1995 as the fourth single from their third album ''Waitin' on Sundown''. The song reached the top of th ...

", rising to No. 1, "Lost and Found", "

Rock My World (Little Country Girl) "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)" is a song written by Bill LaBounty and Steve O'Brien and recorded by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn. It was released in December 1993 as the fourth single from their album '' Hard Workin' Man''. It is ...

", "Mama Don't Get Dressed Up for Nothing", "South of Santa Fe", and "Why Would I Say Goodbye". On August 10, 2009, Brooks & Dunn announced to their fans, via their website they intended to disband after twenty years of touring. According to the short statement released on their web site, Brooks & Dunn intended to release a greatest hits album, tour during the rest of 2009, and have a farewell tour in 2010. Brooks resumed his solo career in 2012, releasing a new 12-track album on September 11, 2012. '' New to This Town'' features nine songs co-written by Brooks, including the album's first single, the

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

.''Kix Brooks to Release Debut Album September 11''
Taste of Country. Retrieved 2012-07-05 He followed his second album with the soundtrack to the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film ''Ambush at Dark Canyon'' in 2014. Brooks composed the majority of the musical score as well as starring in the film. On December 3, 2014, Brooks & Dunn reunited, and along with Reba McEntire, performed a series of concerts in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, throughout the summer and fall of 2015. Brooks performed at the 2019

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville honors all musicians regardless of genre or instrument. The MHOF timeline starts with the beginning of recorded music and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Feder ...

Concert and Induction Ceremony.

Awards

In 2005, Brooks, along with timber industrialist Roy O. Martin Jr., and the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

sports legends

Paul Dietzel Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, and Sue Gunter were among those named a "Louisiana Legend" by

Louisiana Public Broadcasting Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member television stations serving the U.S. state of Louisiana. The stations are operated by the Louisiana Educational Television Authority, an agency c ...

Other achievements

Since January 2006, Brooks has hosted ''

'', a syndicated radio countdown show based on

Mediabase Mediabase is a music industry service that monitors radio station airplay in 180 US and Canadian markets. Mediabase publishes music charts and data based on the most played songs on terrestrial and satellite radio, and provides in-depth analytic ...

(originally was BILLBOARD, from 2006 to August 2009), country charts. Brooks succeeded the show's former host,

Bob Kingsley Robert Gibson Kingsley (March 19, 1939 – October 17, 2019) was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: ''American Cou ...

. Brooks is also co-owner of Arrington Vineyards, a Nashville

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

with winemaker Kip Summers and businessmen John Russell."1995". ''Clemson World''. Spring 2008. p. 36. In 2013, Kix launched the film company Team Two Entertainment along with Eric Brooks. The company makes independent films Kix produces, and Kix occasionally appears as an actor. In 2015, Brooks contracted with

Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...

to host ''Steak Out with Kix Brooks'', in which he travels around America in search of the best

steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as ...

Discography

Albums

Singles

As a featured artist

Music videos

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Kix Louisiana Tech University alumni American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters American radio personalities Grammy Award winners American mandolinists Louisiana Republicans Tennessee Republicans Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana 1955 births Living people Brooks & Dunn members Country musicians from Louisiana Capitol Records artists Arista Nashville artists Actors from Shreveport, Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Louisiana