Since it'll be one of the last times they'll appear on TV as a duo, Brooks & Dunn want you to choose which song they'll perform on the ACM Awards telecast. Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn have already scored 26 ACM trophies and are nominated again this year for Top Vocal Duo. They'll also receive the Academy's Milestone Award in recognition of their 20-year career. The pair are going out in style, calling it quits as a duo after this year's Last Rodeo farewell tour.

The six songs for consideration on the ballot are: 'Brand New Man,' 'My Maria,' 'Red Dirt Road,' 'Neon Moon,' 'You're Gonna Miss Me' and 'Boot Scootin' Boogie.'

The 45th Annual ACM Awards will air live from Las Vegas on KENS 5 at 7:00 PM, Sunday, April 18.

Also slated for CBS is 'Brooks & Dunn: The Last Rodeo.' The special, airing May 23, is scheduled to be filmed the day after the ACM Awards and will feature performances by Carrie Underwood, George Strait, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts, Sugarland and many others.

A ticket company is trying to swing $1000 bucks a ticket for B&D.

William Copeland spent $41 to join the Brooks & Dunn fan club so that he could take advantage of the Brooks & Dunn presale for the pair's last concert in Nashville.  The fan club was alloted 1000 tickets and unfortunately once those ran out William was directed to another site which tried to sell him a ticket for over $1000.

Needless to say, William's not one bit happy about it.

"The only thing us fans want to do is go to concerts," said Copeland.

But the plot thickens a bit because William isn't the only Brooks & Dunn fan who has complained of this problem.  Brooks & Dunn's manager, Clarence Spalding, said Ticketmaster assured him that what the fans are complaining of is impossible because once the fan club tickets were gone there wouldn't be any more available until Saturday when tickets were made available to the general public.

Ticketmaster insists it doesn't refer site visitors to broker web sites.

Funny thing is, though, the video on Nashville's WSMV clearly shows $400 for a ticket so somehow I don't think moving up to the $1000 range is stretching it too far. 

Brooks & Dunn are calling it quits after almost 20 years together, and they are doing all they can to make sure their final concert is one to be remembered.

Headlining the Last Rodeo farewell tour, the pair, joined by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum director Kyle Young, announced today that they are adding one final show to their tour, with all their proceeds benefiting the famous museum.

"This is kind of embarrassing," Kix joked to the crowd upon taking the stage. "Brett Farv is a really good friend of ours and we've been hanging out talking to him, and we actually have decided not to quit," he deadpanned. Using the opportunity to clear up a misconception, Kix continued his banter. "Quit saying we're retiring! We're still healthy and 'We're not quitting, we're splitting,' is our code word."

Getting serious, Kix shared the announcement that has had the music industry on the edge of their seats. "We are going to do a tour that we're really excited about, and we wanted to go out and make sure we said goodbye to the people that have given us this wonderful ride, and make sure if anybody wants to come party with us one last time [they] would get the opportunity. And we have our dear friend [Kyle Young] here because for several years, Ronnie and I have been trying to figure out a way to do something cool for the Country Music Hall of Fame. It is not lost on us that a lot of people were driving around in station wagons for a lot of years with their instruments strapped on top of their cars and taking turns so that Ronnie and I have the ability to drive around in really sexy tour buses and an occasional jet, and we wanted to do something really special to give back. As fate would have it we are going to do this Last Rodeo tour, our final goodbye. So really, the announcement we want to make is, our final show is going to be in Nashville on August 10, and we've got some good friends that have been on tour with us that are going to come out and help us out, and that announcement will be made later. But all the money from that show -- and we hope it's going to be a big blow-out -- we're going to donate to the Country Music Hall of Fame."

"We're really proud of the Hall of Fame and everything it stands for," Ronnie continued. "We think it's really cool that we have it here in Nashville, and we're really proud of the heritage and everything that comes with it."

Kix and Ronnie, who both  say they are at peace with the split, received the Lifetime Achievement Award during CRS. Their farewell tour kicks off April 23, with Jason Aldean as the opening act. Click here for tour dates.

This Thursday, Kix and Ronnie will hold a press conference to make a special announcment about their Last Rodeo Tour. Watch it live here.

Video clips at Ustream

When Brooks & Dunn announced Aug. 10 that they were calling it quits, they promised to make one final tour to tell their fans goodbye.

Set to begin April 23 in Sacramento, the Last Rodeo Tour will come to a halt almost exactly one year after they told fans they were leaving. The final date on the 47-city itinerary takes place Aug. 8 in Chicago.

The duo goes out on a high note. They've won 19 Country Music Association awards during their career, second only to Geroge Strait, and "Cowgirls Don't Cry" is in the running for a Grammy. They recently earned a hit with "Honky Tonk Stomp," featuring ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons.

But material has always been a point of contention for Brooks & Dunn. That process helped them decide it was time to pack it in.

"We definitely have to go back and forth with songs," Kix Brooks told USA Today. "That's always a challenge where you're having to compromise. There have always been hurt feelings. There have always been opinions."

After going over potential songs earlier this year, Ronnie Dunn told Kix he was tired of that grind and didn't want to have to go through the compromises anymore. Kix didn't disagree about breaking up, but he immediately decided he wanted to hit the road one more time with his longtime musical partner.

"I was willing to walk out and never look back," said Ronnie, who eventually agreed with Kix about the final tour romp. "Sometimes, I work a little more from emotion than I do from rational thought."

Jason Aldeanhas signed on as the opener for the first part of the tour.  Gary Allan is on tap as the warm-up act beginning mid June.

The end date for the tour might still change. Brooks & Dunn's slate doesn't yet have Nashville on the schedule, though they promise they'll play Music City one more time before it's all done.

Following are announced dates for Brooks & Dunn's Last Rodeo:

• April 23 Sacramento, Calif.
• April 24 Mountain View, Calif.
• April 25 Indio, Calif.
• April 30 Spokane, Wash.
• May 1 Tacoma, Wash.
• May 2 Vancouver, Wash.
• May 4 Calgary, Alberta
• May 5 Edmonton, Alberta
• May 6 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• May 14 St Paul, Minn.
• May 15 Bloomington, Ill.
• May 16 Columbus, Ohio
• May 21 Phoenix, Ariz.
• May 22 Albuquerque, N.M.
• May 27 Wichita, Kan.
• May 28 Tulsa, Okla.
• May 29 Dallas, Texas
• May 30 Baton Rouge, La.
• June 3 Charleston, W.Va.
• June 4 Charlotte, N.C.
• June 5 Raleigh, N.C.
• June 11 Tampa, Fla.
• June 12 West Palm Beach, Fla.
• June 13 Jacksonville, Flla.
• June 17 Hershey, Pa.
• June 18 Virginia Beach, Va.
• June 19 Washington, D.C.
• June 25 Hartford, Conn.
• June 26 Boston, Mass.
• June 27 Bethel, N.Y.
• June 29 Milwaukee, Wis.
• July 2 Dauphin, Manitoba
• July 8 Fort Loramie, Ohio
• July 9 Cleveland, Ohio
• July 10 Darien Lakes, N.Y.
• July 15 Atlanta, Ga.
• July 16 Indianapolis, Ind.
• July 17 St Clairsville, Ohio
• July 18 Cincinnati, Ohio
• July 23 Minot, N.D.
• July 24 Cheyenne, Wyo.
• July 25 Omaha, Neb.
• July 29 Detroit, Mich.
• July 30 Pittsburgh, Pa.
• August 6 Kansas City, Kan.
• August 7 St Louis, Mo.
• August 8 Chicago, Ill.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo recently announced a few of the musicians who'll be on hand for the 2010 event, once again bringing a wide variety of acts to the main stage.

The Jonas Brothers will return for the second year, as the rodeo's opening act. They'll be followed by superstars Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, and Brooks and Dunn, who will stop by Houston as part of their appropriately titled Last Rodeo farewell tour. The duo have performed at the rodeo every year since 1992.

The famous rodeo, also called RodeoHouston has a long history of bringing top-selling acts of all genres to the 20-day event. Past performers have included Garth Brooks, Trace Adkins, Def Leppard, Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson and ZZ Top.

The remaining artists on the star-studded lineup will be announced in January. The event runs March 2-21 at Houston's Reliant Stadium.

Brooks & Dunn have been tearing up the country charts since 1991, and when their journey as a duo comes to an end next year, more than few fellow country acts will be jumping at the chance to join Kix and Ronnie on their Last Rodeo tour.

Over the years, the duo shared the stage on tour with Keith Urban, Reba, Montgomery Gentry, Gretchen Wilson, Jack Ingram, Sugarland and Big and Rich, among others. But now that it's closing time, who'll get the call to join them on the last round-up?

Craig Morgan tells The Boot he's hoping it might be him.

"I'm just begging Kix Brooks right now ... to just please let me be with them," says Craig. "I'd love to go out with them on their final tour. I love those guys. I mean, they epitomize what a duo is and should be. Everybody knows there's behind-the-scenes stuff. It's tough when you have two guys working together, but those guys have perfected it. They've done such a great job, and they've been such great representatives of the format. I'm just real proud for them. They're real smart. Gosh, they've been doing it for a long time, and they're probably ready for a little break."

No official word on the duo's 2010 concert dates yet, but The Boot will keep you posted!

This statement was posted to Brooks & Dunn's website at 5:41p today.

To Our Fans:

After 20 years of making music and riding this trail together, we have agreed as a duo that it's time call it a day. This ride has been everything and more than we could ever have dreamed .... We owe it all to you, the fans. If you hear rumors, don't believe them, it's just time.

We will release our #1s ... and then some" on September 8th and come see you all one more time in 2010, with The Last Rodeo Tour (dates to be announced).

Brooks & Dunn

"Half of the time at concerts, I say we may play 'til 2:30 in the morning -- joking," Brad Paisley observed in the early hours Friday.

Thanks to a three-hour delay caused by rain and lightning, he came close to making his joke a reality on the opening night of the CMA Music Festival, playing the final notes of "Alcohol" at Nashville's LP Field around 1:55 a.m. And it likely would've pushed 2:30 if Rascal Flatts hadn't had to bag its 35-minute set, citing travel issues associated with a Friday date in Oklahoma.

Weather was a huge concern for the festival even before it started, thanks to meteorological forecasts that predicted rain for all four days. Tellingly, Thursday morning's opening was delayed 30 minutes by a storm, though the rest of the day went without any apparent scheduling hitches. At least until the evening's stadium show.

Brooks & Dunn belted out 10 party numbers to get the night started, revving up "You Can't Take The Honky Tonk Out Of The Girl," "Put A Girl In It" and the patriotic "Only In America," wrapped in a video flag, salutes from four servicemen on stage and a blast of red, white and blue confetti streamers.

Reba McEntire made a brief appearance during their set for "Cowgirls Don't Cry," then got her own set off to a good start with three songs of her own -- "Why Haven't I Heard From You," "The Fear Of Being Alone" and "Strange" -- before fans were told to go into the concourse to wait out the lightning. The announcement came from one appropriately named host: emcee Storme Warren, of GAC's Headline Country.

A release sent out by the Country Music Association on Monday had indicated Julianne Hough and Jimmy Wayne would perform, but neither of them appeared onstage.

After the delay, Darius Rucker picked things back up at 12:25 with a 20-minute set that featured the same four titles he played the previous morning at GAC's Kick-Off Breakfast. This time he did them with a full band, and he wandered out into the crowd on the stadium's main floor during "Alright."

Dierks Bentley also contributed three songs to the night and came back out to join Brad on the "Alcohol" finale.

The CMA also announced a surprise addition to Friday night's lineup: Kid Rock.

Brooks & Dunn's Kix Brooks, one of country music's most active participants on the business side of the industry, is one of the 46 members of a newly created task force called the Music Business Council. The group will advise Nashville Mayor Karl Dean on a variety of projects, all intended to boost the city's position as a key musical hub.

Kix has been busy writing songs for B&D's new CD.  The first single is "Indian Summer." Click here to check it out.

Forbes has compiled their list of the top country money makers and despite album sales falling 24% last year, the top country stars still made quite a bit of da mullah. 

To compile the list of top earners in country music, Forbes considered concert grosses, merchandise revenue, album sales and income from endorsement and licensing deals. The figures represent estimates of gross earnings for the 12 months beginning June 2008. Earnings for May 2009 were projected.

Check out the photos and individual stories here.  But here's a quick rundown for you.

1. Kenny Chesney with estimated earnings of $65 million
2. Rascal Flatts with estimated earnings of $60 million
3. Toby Keith with estimated earnings of $52 million
4. Taylor Swift with estimated earnings of $18 million
   
5. Brooks & Dunn and Tim McGraw tie with estimated earnings of $16 million
6. Brad Paisley with estimated earnings of $15 million
7. Sugarland and Carrie Underwood tie with estimated earnings of $14 million
8. Alan Jackson with estimated earnings of $12 million

Brooks & Dunn are ready for a road trip!!    Ronnie and Kix just release the run down for their 2009 tour:

• 6/6 Enterprise, AL - Bama Jam Festival Grounds
• 6/13 Winsted, MN - Winstock Country Music Fest.
• 7/23 Monticello, IA - Jones County Fair Grounds
• 7/25 Fort Knox, KY - Godman Army Airfield
• 8/7 Detroit Lakes, MN - Soo Pass Ranch
• 8/15 Baltimore, MD - Aberdeen Proving Grounds
• 8/16 Hamburg, NY - The Fairgrounds
• 8/21 Des Moines, IA - Iowa State Fairgrounds
• 8/22 Sedalia, MO - Missouri State Fairgrounds Groundstand
• 10/1 Santa Ynez, CA - Chumash Casino
• 10/2 Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa Amphitheater
• 10/3 Alpine, CA - Viejas Concerts in the Park
• 10/16 Penticton, British Columbia - South Okanagan Events Centre
• 10/17 Kamloops, British Columbia - Interior Saving Centre
• 10/19 Prince George, British Columbia - CN Centre
• 10/20 Dawson Creek, British Columbia - Encana Event Centre
• 10/22 Red Deer, Alberta - Westerner Park/ENMAX Centrium Arena
• 10/23 Lethbridge, Alberta - ENMAX Centre
• 10/24 Regina, Saskatchewan - Brandt Centre

Brad Paisley is the most popular country artist of the moment, according to a group of 13,000-plus fans who were queried in a recent poll.

George Strait and Brooks & Dunn tied for second just one notch down, with fourth position being shared by Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson. Carrie Underwood, Zac Brown Band, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Sugarland ranked among the most highly regarded newer country acts.

Kix Brooks is more than a guitar slinger in a cowboy hat. In addition to burning up the charts with Ronnie Dunn, the Louisiana native also has a steady radio gig as host of 'American Country Countdown'  on Y100 and is part owner of Arrington Vineyards, a hilltop winery that is becoming one of middle Tennessee's most popular destinations.

"It's been extremely successful, and we're having a lot of fun with it," Brooks tells The Boot of the winery he co-owns with John Russell, Kip Summers and Fred Mindermann. "We found a great piece of property, and it sounded like a wonderful opportunity to me. I knew we'd have fun with it."

Brooks and pals opened the winery in 2005 in Arrington, Tenn., a picturesque community south of Nashville.

Read more in THE BOOT!

Alan Jackson's "Country Boy" leaps four spots to grab the big #1 on Billboard's country singles chart. It's Alan's 25th No. 1 since January 1990, which is when the publication began compiling its country monitor using information from Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.

Big week for Brooks & Dunn too!!  B&D have moved past Alabama as the country act with the most Top 10 hits, doing so this week with "Cowgirls Don't Cry."

When Reba McEntire joined Brooks & Dunn during last Wednesday's CMA Awards performance of "Cowgirls Don't Cry," it represented not only a special live version of their current single -- it also signaled a rare creative move.

Just hours after the three singers left the stage of Nashville's Sommet Center, a studio version of the collaboration was shipped to radio stations. It's an unusual move since Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn's original recording is already at No. 19 on the Country Aircheck singles chart.

Reba's participation is a natural update for "Cowgirls," and not just because of her history with the rodeo. Ronnie joined her on last year's Reba Duets album on a song called "Does The Wind Still Blow In Oklahoma," and he wrote "Cowgirls" shortly after writing "Oklahoma."

"It's not a cowgirl-specific song," Ronnie says. "It's about the things that women have to endure. Guys are taught, 'Hey, you don't cry. Cowboy, you don't cry; get up and do it again.' Well, I was thinkin' about Reba when I wrote it. I was thinkin' about how she grew up, and I sent her the lyrics the night that I wrote that song, and I mean I got 100 e-mails goin': 'You gonna record that song? You gonna record that song?' I told her, 'I wrote it about you.'"

Ronnie had no idea at the time that she would indeed record it with Brooks & Dunn, or that they would work together on a video. It should be out by the end of November.

Look for Reba and Brooks & Dunn at the 2009 Stock Show and Rodeo.   CLICK HERE for the schedule.