Country fans everywhere rejoiced when, in early 2019, superstar duo Brooks & Dunn announced that they would be reuniting to put out a new duets project, Reboot. For that record, the duo is collaborating with some of today's biggest country stars for new renditions of their most memorable hits.

But why did one of the genre's biggest acts ever call it quits in the first place? Well ... it's complicated.

Way back at the beginning of their partnership, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn hesitated to pair up as a duo at all. Both men were around 40 years old at the time, and they didn't even know each other. A record company executive came up with the idea for them to perform together, but the two artists needed to be talked into it.

Of course, things soon changed, and Brooks and Dunn became fast friends as well as prolific and successful collaborators, with 11 albums and 20 No. 1 songs to their name. That's why, to the outside world, Brooks & Dunn's breakup in 2009 seemed sudden -- but the pair admitted that it had been coming for years; in fact, by end of their run together, things were so tense between the bandmates that they nearly walked away without finishing their farewell tour.

That tension, according to the duo, wasn't necessarily the result of drama within the band, but instead was simply a result of two artists who had always wanted to pursue their own dreams in the first place. "Both of us are going -- Ronnie, for sure, [was] like, 'I wanna make a record without having to look over my shoulder,'" Brooks explained in an interview with Larry King. "I was like, 'I totally get it. Go do it, man.'"

Learn more about Brooks & Dunn's partnership, their ups and downs and what happened after the breakup by watching the video above. It's the latest installment in the Secret History of Country Music series, by The Boot's sister site, Taste of Country.

Country Music's Nastiest Breakups

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