3 Brooks & Dunn Hits That Ronnie Dunn Wrote by Himself (And Hit No. 1)

Brooks & Dunn have had plenty of hits over the years in country music. Both Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks are also talented songwriters, penning several of their hits together. But some of their biggest songs were written just by Dunn.

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We have the stories behind three songs Dunn wrote by himself, which went all the way to No. 1.

“Neon Moon”

“Neon Moon” is Brooks & Dunn’s third single, and the first one that Dunn wrote by himself. Included on their freshman Brand New Man record, it was released in 1991, but was written before Brooks & Dunn were formed. In fact, Dunn was performing in a house band in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he wrote the song, drawing inspiration by thinking of people dancing at the bar he was playing in..

“I was trying to twist it just a hair different and not give it a good old standard two-four beat deal, and that melody just came to me,” Dunn explains to CMT. “So I was really thinking of dances with the beat, and I still do to this day with most of the stuff that I write. Kix and I both do.”

“Boot Scootin’ Boogie”

Interestingly, the next single after “Neon Moon” is “Boot Scootin’ Boogie“, which is the only other song on Brand New Man that Dunn wrote by himself. Interestingly, before Brooks & Dunn recorded it, Asleep at the Wheel put it on their 1990 Keepin’ Me Up Nights album.

Of course, it’s Brooks & Dunn who made the song a big hit, staying at the top of the charts for four weeks, a surprise to them since they almost didn’t record the tune at all.

“We were afraid of ‘Boot Scoot’, and the label was, to release it,” Dunn recalls (via The Boot). “That’s why they made it the fourth single on the first record.

“They were afraid that it was too, I don’t know — progressive is not the word — but just kinda pushing the limits, too much. Isn’t that crazy?” he adds.

Hard Workin’ Man

“Hard Workin’ Man” is the title track and first single from Brooks & Dunn’s sophomore record. The song is one of several Dunn wrote in one songwriting session, when he realized they were unable to rely on songwriters to give Brooks & Dunn quality songs.

“I sat down, and I would listen to the radio to get the template for how to write a song—four line verse, four line verse, four line chorus, first chorus, and that kind of stuff,” Dunn tells Songwriter Universe. “One day, I committed to sitting down for 10 days straight, and really took a stab at seriously writing songs, just adding discipline to the concept. I wrote ‘Blue Neon Moon’, ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie’, ‘Hard Workin’ Man’, and ‘She Used To Be Mine.’ There were five or six number ones that came out of that.”

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