Brooks and Dunn, who are preparing for the release of their upcoming 30-song #1s … and then some collection on September 8th, commented publicly for the first time last night on their Monday annoucement of plans to end their professional partnership. “We’ve exhausted this thing musically,” they told the audience that gathered in Nashville for the taping of an upcoming CMT Invitation Only concert special. “We owe it to the people who have given us this great life to go out while we still love it,” Kix went on to say, acknowledging plans to follow the September release of their career-spanning hits collection with a 2010 tour. “We’re calling our tour ‘The Last Rodeo,’ and we can’t wait to get out there and play these songs with all we’ve got.”

Kix and Ronnie treated the small studio audience to a sampling of classics from their career, which has spanned almost two decades, noting between songs that they “always wondered what athletes felt like when they knew it was time.” As Kix explained, “Now we know and we feel like we’ve got one more great season in us.”

Earlier this week, the duo announced plans to go their separate ways in a message posted on their website. The pair told fans, “After 20 years of making music and riding this trail together, we have agreed as a duo that it’s time to call it a day.” Brooks and Dunn’s #1s … and then some — featuring such signature songs as “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “Only in America,” “My Maria” and “Neon Moon,” as well as new recordings “Indian Summer” and “Honky Tonk Stomp” — will be available in stores and online September 8th.