Jon Pardi Joins Brooks & Dunn For Surprise Performance Of ‘My Next Broken Heart’
Pardi admits that sharing the stage with Brooks & Dunn is “a dream come true.”
Jon Pardi, Brooks & Dunn; Photo Courtesy of Jon Pardi
Brooks & Dunn brought out Jon Pardi as a surprise guest during their headlining set at XRoads41 music festival on Friday, August 9.
The three-day event held in the heart of Oshkosh, WI brought tons of country music fans together for a weekend of live headlining performances by Brooks & Dunn, Journey and Old Dominion. The star-studded lineup also featured acts like Jon Pardi, Turnpike Troubadours, Shaggy, Priscilla Block, Chris Janson, Tanya Tucker and more.
Pardi delivered his hit-filled set right before the country music duo and then returned to the stage for the final performance of the night to join Brooks & Dunn in singing, “My Next Broken Heart.”
The crowd filled the festival grounds with screams of excitement as the award-winning duo strummed their guitars and simultaneously belted out the high-energy tune alongside Pardi, who donned a vibrant western shirt while lending his signature sound to the classic breakup anthem. Brooks & Dunn then joined in with their own vocals, thus offering a set of flawless baritone harmonies amid the upbeat melody.
“Yeah, I thought all along you’d be the death of me/ But I met one tonight who wants what’s left of me/ I’ve seen that look before/ She’ll tear my world apart/ I’m working on my next broken heart,” they sang.
Before walking off stage, the California native revealed that that was the first time in about three years that they had gotten the chance to showcase that song live together. He also revealed that sharing the stage with Brooks & Dunn was “a dream come true.”
Penned by Don Cook, with Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, “My Next Broken Heart” was originally released on September 1991 as the second of four No. 1 singles to spawn from their debut album Brand New Man.
Then in March of 2019, they released a new version featuring Jon Pardi as part of their Reboot album, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart. This 12-track collection produced by Dann Huff found the artists re-recording their most iconic tracks with some of today’s biggest country stars, including Luke Combs, Kacey Musgraves, Brothers Osborne, Thomas Rhett, Ashley McBryde and more.
In a video shared via YouTube at the time, Brooks & Dunn are seen revisiting this tune with Pardi and sitting down for a conversation on how the collaboration came to be.
“I could tell the first time I heard you sing that you’ve been in a bunch of bars, you cut your teeth already and the California thing’s just a little different,” Kix told Pardi. “It’s what you do and bring to the table, it’s just not quite like a lot of Nashville producers and writers and whatever. There’s a lot of sameness, but I can tell your stuff just add a little different slant to it. I always kind of like what you were up to.”
Kix went on to say that they were excited to hear that Pardi wanted to record an older track from their collection, and not only that, but he was such a fan of the original that he didn’t want to change up the new version too much.
While explaining his reason for selecting “My Next Broken Heart,” Pardi shared, “You guys had such massive songs and I just knew, I was like, man, I want to do some of that older stuff that, it’s not overshadowed, but you got huge stuff. I always remember that feeling of ‘My next Broken Heart’ and I love honky tonk music, so I thought would be a good pick. It was fun. That day in the studio, I was ready.”
“You showed up to play,” Kix confirmed before Ronnie added, “He steps up to the microphone and there’s an energy there. I mean, it is kind of unexplained to you hear it and see it happen when you hit it, it’s like, dang. You’re not a timid singer at all.”
Brooks & Dunn have been performing hits like this and many more throughout their Reboot Tours. The latest leg of their run kicked off in West Palm Beach, FL on May 3 and featured more than 20 dates across the United States and Canada. They officially wrapped up their headline run on August 8.
Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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