Flashback to October 27th, 2001 when Brooks & Dunn’s song “Only In America” hit number-one.
Brooks & Dunn’s song “Only In America,” off their Steers & Stripes album was released in June of 2001, but after the tragic events that occurred on 9/11, the song with the opening lyrics “‘Suns comin’ up, over New York City,” along with it’s message, seemed to give a life to the track that Ronnie Dunn & Kix Brooks could never have anticipated. The legendary duo were scheduled to perform at a show in Pennsylvania just days after 9/11, Ronnie remembers debating whether they should even perform, “We had talked about canceling it, ’cause we didn’t think it was appropriate. And we decided to do it. People were showin’ up, and so it was the thing to do.” Prior to taking the stage, it was at that moment that the lyrics of “Only In America” hit Kix, “I remember jumpin’ on Ronnie’s bus ’cause it just dawned on me, the first line of the song is ‘Sun comin’ up, over New York City,’ and it just kind of hit me. And we were openin’ the show with it anyway. I said, ‘Is this weird for us just to go yee-hawin’ out there?’ And we realized once then we walked out and we hit that song, and we realized that audience was packed with flags and signs and ‘God bless the U.S.A.’ And to look out across that audience, I breathed such a sigh of relief. It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, they got it. They came here to party; they came here to celebrate this country, and this is gonna be a good night.’” In late October of 2001, the song hit number-one, and since has gone on to be one of Brooks & Dunn’s most popular fan favorites.
Brooks & Dunn recall their concerns about a show and singing “Only in America” just shortly after the events of September 11th, 2001. (:60)
Ronnie: “We flew right into Pennsylvania…was it two days after?”
Kix: “Mm-hmm.”
Ronnie: “Not far from where the plane had gone down, and it was a fair. And we had talked about canceling it, ’cause we didn’t think it was appropriate. And we decided to do it. People were showin’ up, and so it was the thing to do. That was, to this day, it’s emotional to even think about that…”
Kix: “I remember jumpin’ on Ronnie’s bus ’cause it just dawned on me, the first line of the song is ‘Sun comin’ up, over New York City,’ and it just kind of hit me. And we were openin’ the show with it anyway. I said, ‘Is this weird for us just to go yee-hawin’ out there?’ And we realized once then we walked out and we hit that song, and we realized that audience was packed with flags and signs and ‘God bless the U.S.A.’ And to look out across that audience, I breathed such a sigh of relief. It’s like, ‘Oh yeah, they got it. They came here to party; they came here to celebrate this country, and this is gonna be a good night.’”
Produced Rewind 30 and 60 second version (Non-Announcer versions labeled with “NO VT”)
Produced Rewind October 2001 Brooks & Dunn 30 seconds
Produced Rewind October 2001 Brooks & Dunn 30 seconds (NO VT version)
“It’s a country music rewind”
“to this week in 2001”
“16 years ago, Brooks & Dunn hit the number-one spot with ‘Only In America.’”
“Music from Brooks & Dunn is available now”
Produced Rewind October 2001 Brooks & Dunn 60 seconds
Produced Rewind October 2001 Brooks & Dunn 60 seconds(NO VT version)
“It’s a country music rewind”
“to this week in 2001”
“16 years ago, Brooks & Dunn hit the number-one spot with ‘Only In America.’”
“Music from Brooks & Dunn is available now”