Morgan Wallen, Lainey Wilson and More Join Brooks & Dunn for ‘Reboot II’: ‘It Was the Most Fun We’ve Ever Had,’ Brooks Says (Exclusive)

In 2019, when Brooks & Dunn collaborated with such hot new artists as Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde and Brothers Osborne for Reboot, a collection of duets covering some of the superstar duo’s most beloved songs, they could have never imagined that within five years there would be a whole new crop of burgeoning stars to revisit the concept. 

Reboot proved to be such a tremendous success — providing the Country Hall of Fame pair with their first No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart in a decade — that it seemed natural to, well, reboot Reboot, but with a few twists.

Reboot II, out Nov. 15 on Sony Music Nashville, features a legion of new country artists, many of whom were just experiencing their first flushes of success or weren’t even signed yet five years ago, including Megan Moroney, Hailey Whitters, Lainey Wilson, Ernest and Warren Zeiders, but the new set also broadens the concept to include rockers Halestorm and bluesmen Marcus King and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Among the other artists on the album are Morgan Wallen, Jelly Roll, HARDY and Corey Kent.

“What was even more impressive was to sit down with this bunch and turn them loose to do the songs in whatever way fit their artistic vision,” Ronnie Dunn tells Billboard. “The fun part was we weren’t chasing the original recordings or arrangements or our versions. We turned them loose to do whatever they wanted to do and, I’m biased, but it was really refreshing.”

Hearing some of their songs, while still recognizable, turned on their heads and recreated with new arrangements, tempos or even as different genres, “made me realize how good we are,” Dunn says with a laugh, before seriously adding, “I think how lucky we are to have these songs that you can push the chameleon button on, and they change colors and keep on ticking.”

Unlike the first edition, where Kacey Musgraves and a few other artists upended their takes but for the most part the remakes stayed true to the originals, half the fun of listening to Reboot II are the unexpected roads some of the songs down — such as Moroney and Dunn’s slowed down, sultry duet on “Ain’t Nothing ‘Bout You,” The Earls of Leicester’s spirited bluegrass take on “How Long Gone” and Marcus King’s high-octane version of “Rock My World (Little Country Girl),” which screeches out of the gate.

It turns out Brooks & Dunn, one of country’s most successful duos with 20 No. 1s on the Country Airplay chart — would have happily embraced more reinventions on the first go-round. “I think artistically, Kix and I kind of wanted to let the horse run like we did on this on the first one — but the mandate was, ‘Hey this is an experiment. We haven’t done it before, so let’s try to keep the truck between the lines.’ And we were very pleased with it. But this is a whole different animal.” Then with what can only be described as a mischievous laugh, he adds, “I mean, this is gonna offend some people!”

Surprise more than offend more likely, given how Halestorm turns Brooks & Dunn’s classic “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” up to 11 with screaming guitars and Dunn going head to head with lead singer Lizzy Hale. 

“[Halestorm] did not disappoint,” says Kix Brooks, adding that more than 30 years into their partnership, it’s good for Brooks & Dunn to shake things up a bit.  “At this point in our career, we can’t really be nervous about that, especially on a record like this, and especially inviting some of the artists we did, like Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Halestorm. Halestorm is a  really badass, really tight rock band and whatever song they come in with heads are going to bang.”

Furthermore, Brooks says some of the artists upped Brooks & Dunn’s game in a way that delighted them. “It was fun to see Ronnie go toe-to-toe with Lizzy,” he says. “I was like, ‘Good luck pal’ — but he did. I feel like a lot of the stuff really challenged us in a way that maybe we weren’t before. Kingfish came in on ‘Hard Workin’ Man’ with this funky blues thing, because that’s what he does with his band… then it’s like, ‘Holy crap. How are we going to plug into this?’ That was a whole new level of fun.”

Like the first Reboot, Brooks & Dunn were in the studio with the acts — no artists added their parts separately as happens in many such collaborative albums. 

“I felt like it would be rude not to be [there],” Dunn says. The duo largely left it to their guests to come up with new interpretations, but were there to assist if the artist got “bogged down, and it would become a team sport to figure things out.”

While Dann Huff produced Reboot, this time he still did the majority of Reboot II’s tracks — but artists were also encouraged to use producers and musicians they routinely work with, which added Joey Moi, Kristian Bush and Jerry Douglas to the mix (along with some unintentional levity). “Kristian, who was producing Megan, has a very cosmic approach to producing,” Brooks says. “He was doing this thing with his hands like, ‘We just need to interweave this and that into that,’ and I was like, ‘You got that, don’t you, Ronnie?’” 

“We almost threw him out the window,” Dunn says with a laugh — adding that making Reboot II  “was the most fun we’ve ever had,” in part because there was no pressure. 

The album contains 18 tracks, including six songs that were on Reboot, remade with different artists for Reboot II. “You think, ‘How can I do it differently? How can it not be repetitive? And everybody found a new way to give it a twist,’” Dunn says. Brooks cites Luke Combs’ straight-ahead read on “Brand New Man” for Reboot, whereas Warren Zeiders slows the tune way down on Reboot II and give it a “Nirvana kind of groove.” 

When asked if there could be a Reboot III five years from now, Dunn says, “We would probably have to write a lot more new songs,” before adding, “we’re both writing all the time.”

The new versions also seem to lead new fans to discover the duo. “Asking our crowds this summer on tour, ‘How many of you are at your first Brooks & Dunn show?’” and probably 70% of that crowd now has their hands in the air,” Brooks says. “They’re just finding these songs. We kind of have this rebirth on stage that’s kind of hard to describe.”

Though Brooks & Dunn took a touring hiatus from 2010 to 2015, they now have no desire to see the end of the road. Their first leg of their 2025 Neon Moon tour, produced by Live Nation, will start March 13 in Lubbock, Texas and run through April 26 in Louisville. 

“We’ve finally gotten to a place where we can kind of not worry about anything, just get out there and enjoy it,” Brooks says. 

“We’re still drawing the same size crowds we did in our heyday, so let it rock,” Dunn says, adding with a laugh, “And we’re still pretty.”

Brooks & Dunn – Reboot 2 TRACK LIST

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