Leon Eric "Kix" Brooks III (born May 12, 1955) is an American country music artist, actor, and film producer best known for being one half of the duo Brooks & Dunn and host of radio's American Country Countdown. Prior to the duo's foundation, he was a singer and songwriter, charting twice on Hot Country Songs and releasing an album for Capitol Records. Brooks and Ronnie Dunn comprised Brooks & Dunn for 20 years, with both members beginning solo careers. Brooks's solo career after Brooks & Dunn has included the album New to This Town.

Early life

Brooks grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has one sister, one half-sister, one half-brother and his father adopted one son of his third wife. He attended Riverside Elementary for grades K-5. After graduating from the former Sewanee Military Academy, an Episcopalian institution in Sewanee, Tennessee, Brooks attended Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, where he was a theatre arts major. He moved to Alaska to work for his father on an oil pipeline for one summer and then returned to Louisiana Tech to finish his education. He then moved to Maine and wrote advertising for a company owned by his sister and brother-in-law.

Kix Brooks is the solo debut album by American country music artist Kix Brooks. It was released on Capitol Nashville in 1989, a year before he joined Ronnie Dunn in the duo Brooks & Dunn. The album was re-released in 1993 on compact disc via Liberty Records when he was one half of Brooks & Dunn at the time. It includes the single "Sacred Ground," which was a minor hits for Brooks on the country charts, and a new version of "Baby, When Your Heart Breaks Down", which was originally released as a single in 1983.

"Sacred Ground" was later covered by McBride & the Ride on their 1992 album Sacred Ground. McBride & the Ride's version peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts.

Track listing