Brooks & Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn Speaks Out About the Competitive Reality Of Country Music: ‘Everybody Hates One Another’

To outsiders, the country music community appears to be one big happy family, but Brooks & Dunn‘s Ronnie Dunn reveals that it’s not always that way.

In a recent interview on This Past Weekend with Theo Von, the country music legend candidly shared his thoughts on the industry, admitting that behind the scenes, things aren’t always sunshine and roses. 

“As friendly as they say the world of country music is, it is so darn competitive. Everybody hates one another. They act like they don’t on tv, but…,” Dunn stated. 

Theo Von asked him to elaborate, “You think people are really competitive though?” 

Dunn Says Things Are “Big Time Competitive” In Country Music

Without skipping a beat, Dunn answered, “Oh heck yeah. No big time competitive. One of my favorite things is Dolly Parton in an interview, years and years ago, they were talking about somebody and she goes, ‘Oh honey, there’s room for everybody,’” he recalled, adding, “No, there’s not. You want to get down to it? No, there’s not.” 

Dunn later explained that he feels like the “competitive dynamic” is an inherent aspect of the music industry.

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“But you want to catch up. How many number ones do you have? Who had a number one this week? Who has this? And we can be cool and sit back and go, we don’t care. It’s no big deal. We’re not in it for that. We’re in it for the love, and that’s not the case,” he explained. 

But at the end of the day, According to Dunn, the feeling of competition is also “what keeps you going.”  

They’ve Made Some Real Friends Along The Way

That said, not everyone in country music is at odds with each other.

“We do make some real friends along the way,” Dunn’s longtime duo partner, Kix Brooks, interjected. 

“I mean David Lee Murphy‘s a great example…We got here, both got here in 79, literally swept floors for Charlie Daniels for 30 bucks a night. I was getting rent paid and playing writer’s nights and stuff, and still he’s on tour with us now and going out with us next year. Toured with again last year, and we’ve toured together before,” Brooks explained. “Just we’ve got real friends that the competition, I can’t say, I don’t know, maybe it does go away or something. And at some point in your life, I think you have a certain amount of success. You still want to succeed, but it’s like you’re not so ferocious when you start and everything matters.”

Brooks went on to point out that while things still matter, he feels like there has been a shift to a more relaxed approach to their career. 

During their conversation with Theo Von, Brooks & Dunn also opened up about the early stages of the duo, taking part in Morgan Wallen’s walkout, writing some fo their biggest hits, and more. 

REBOOT 2 Drops November 15

The duo is making media rounds in support of their forthcoming collaboration album, REBOOT 2. Out November 15 via Sony Music Nashville, the project serves as the sequel to 2019’s REBOOT. It follows a similar format but features a slew of new artists, including Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, Riley Green, Megan Moroney, HARDY, ERNEST, Corey Kent, and more.  

The album features reimagined versions of some of the duo’s biggest songs such as “Play Something Country,” “Neon Moon,” Believe,” “Brand New Man,” “Hillbilly Deluxe,” “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” the beloved “Only In America,” as well as many others. 

Ahead of the release, the duo shared a new version of “Play Something Country” featuring Lainey Wilson. Click below to listen.