Biography of Reba McEntire

With her powerful, versatile voice, this Chockie, OK, native can sing traditional country as well as it's sung. Like Dolly Parton before her, talented Reba McEntire has moved sideways out of hard country into songs that appeal to a broader, more popular palate, following the path of so many contemporary country performers. And again like Parton, McEntire is on the silver screen. She ably plays a desert girl in the sci-fi comedy Tremors, in which the sub-sand critters are lured to their death by vibrations of the non-musical kind. Before moving toward the middle of the road, she cut My Kind of Country, a traditionalist's delight, and from this album came the hit single "How Blue," which led to the Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year Award in 1984. McEntire's awards haven't stopped since. She's a natural talent who can sing country or pop or anything in-between with power and beauty. In 1990, seven of her band members and her road manager died in a plane crash on a California mountain. ~ David Vinopal

Biography of Brooks & Dunn

Both Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn came from oil-pipeline families (Brooks in Louisiana, Dunn in Texas and New Mexico), so they come by at least part of their Western roughneck image honestly. Brooks moved to Nashville in 1981 and recorded a 1989 album for Capitol. Dunn began drawing Nashville attention after winning a national country music talent contest in 1989. Neither found much success until they joined forces for hits like "Brand New Man," "Neon Moon" and "My Next Broken Heart." ~ Brian Mansfield