Brooks & Dunn Call It Quits

Country music fans were shocked recently when, after 20 years of making hits together, Brooks & Dunn announced they have decided to call it a day. Dates have yet to be announced for the 2010 farewell tour, dubbed The Last Rodeo, but the two have confirmed they will part ways at the end of it.

After struggling as solo artists, Louisiana-born Kix Brooks and Texas-born Ronnie Dunn joined forces in 1990 at the behest of music-label executive Tim DuBois. To everyone's surprise, the combination worked, and in 1991 Brooks & Dunn hit the charts for the first time with their debut album, Brand New Man. It didn't take long for the two to become the biggest-selling duo in country music history. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Brooks & Dunn have sold 22.3 million albums in the United States.

The twosome have topped the U.S. country singles chart 20 times with tunes such as "Only in America," which was famously used by both the 2008 Democratic and 2004 Republican campaigns; "My Maria," which was Billboard's No. 1 Country Music Single of the Year in 1996; and "The Long Goodbye," which was later covered by Irish pop star Ronan Keating.

Brooks & Dunn's phenomenal success has set a high bar in the world of country music, and they will be sorely missed. Their new two-disc set, #1s ... and Then Some, ensures Brooks & Dunn will go out in a blaze of glory as it includes a career-encompassing 23 No. 1 singles and fan favorites, as well as current radio hits "Indian Summer" and "Honky Tonk Stomp." This expansive collection will certainly cement the duo's place in music history -- as well in the hearts of country music fans.

We couldn't let the release of the dynamic duo's swan song pass without honoring them on Rhapsody: consider this playlist a tip of the ol' ten-gallon hat to Brooks & Dunn.