When Brooks & Dunn recorded their latest single, “Cowgirls Don’t Cry,” for their Cowboy Town album, they knew there was another artist who wanted to record it: their buddy, Reba McEntire. And the reasons were simple…she loved it, and it was inspired by her. Well, Reba is genuinely a part of the song now in a special new studio version that was provided to radio stations after the guys and Reba debuted “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” live for the first time together this past week on the CMA Awards show. Ronnie Dunn, who co-wrote the song, recalls writing it around the time he was collaborating with Reba on her Duets album. When he first shared it with her, he laughs, she flooded him with e-mail, asking, “You gonna record that song? You gonna record that song?” (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

  Ronnie Dunn says Reba McEntire has always been at the heart of Brooks & Dunn’s new duet with her on “Cowgirls Don’t Cry.” (:31)
“I was thinkin’ of Reba when I wrote it. I was thinkin’ about how rodeo-tough she is, and how she grew up…and I’d just spent time writin’ the song on Reba’s Duets record. I got a little insight into how she looked at her dad, you know? It’s kind of like when she refers to him, it’s like, ‘Hmm, yeah, he taught me to be tough.’ And I just took off and wrote the song. And I sent her the lyrics the night that I wrote this song, and I mean, I got a hundred e-mails going, ‘You gonna record that song? You gonna record that song?’ (laughs) I told her, I said, ‘I wrote it about you! You know?'”