Q&A with Kix Brooks

The 48-year-old singer-songwriter from Brooks & Dunn was a buddy of Dale Earnhardt's. The country duo played last week's Dale Earnhardt Tribute concert, which Fox airs July 10

Kix Brooks. Joe Cavaretta/AP

SI: How did you get the news that Dale had died?

Brooks: We were in Atlantic City and we had about an hour before our show started. We watched the race and saw the wreck and Darrell Waltrip's comments kind of disturbed me. While everybody was so excited about the end of the race, he said, "That wreck is a lot worse than it looks, y'all."

A strange red flag went up in my head. About five minutes later, Ronnie [Dunn] knocked on my door and he was white-faced. He said, "Dale died." It was really a bad night. We went downstairs to the dressing room and obviously we were pretty disturbed. I said. 'Look, man, for an hour and half here we have to act like this didn't happen. We'll figure out a way to grieve when this is over, but somehow, right now, we have to regroup and get this show out of the way.' We did the high five and walked on stage.

By then, word had gotten out about Dale's death, and there was this guy in the front row wearing an Earnhardt shirt and he had a big old tear running down his cheek. I looked at him and thought, 'This is not the guy I should be looking at all night.' Anyway, we got through it, and I know Dale would have wanted it that way. He sure as hell would have been on the track if it had been me who died.

SI: You were very close with Dale. What's your favorite Earnhardt story?

Brooks: I think my favorite is a fishing story. We were out in San Salvador one time and I had my son with me. There were sharks everywhere. We caught a lot of fish and we were worn out by the end of the day, but then there were two or three marlin clearing the water out in front of the boat. So Dale said, "Man, we gotta try and catch these fish." I was like, 'Man, I'm worn out,' but Dale was firm: "We gotta try."

So we put all the lines back in and sure enough one of the fish gets on his line and he calls me to reel the marlin in. It was a white marlin, which is rare, and Dale was bigtime fired up. Later, he was cleaning up the boat and he said, "Come check out these sea turtles." So I go look over the side of the boat and he grabs me by the seat of the pants and throws me overboard. Then he takes off. He left me in the water -- and I was afraid to tread water because I knew there were sharks everywhere and I didn't want to move my legs. Finally, I saw the boat out on the horizon coming back to get me. Dale's got my wife and my kid and [Earnhardt's wife] Teresa. He informed me that on my first marlin, I had to be thrown overboard. Even with the sharks, he had no choice.

SI: Are you close with Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Brooks: Not really. But Ronnie and I have met him. We don't go to nearly as many races since Dale died.

SI: Why does Dale Earnhardt continue to so strongly resonate with us today?

Brooks: He was a rock star in the prime of his career who was snatched away from us. We're not ready to let him go.

SI: Did Dale ever come on stage or sing with you guys at concerts?

Brooks: He did come on stage, but he never sang or played the guitar. He said he was a horrible singer. I tried to get him to sing on Sunday Money but he wouldn't do it.

SI: You're an avid golfer. Ever play with any athletes?

Brooks: Yeah, I play with Rick Sutcliffe all the time. He's like my best friend. Who wins? I'd like to say it's me, but he's got four or five shots on me.

SI: Country music is so intertwined with NASCAR. Could you ever imagine LeBron James playing ball to your music?

Brooks: Probably not. (laughs)

SI: Your music is unabashedly American, right down to your Steers and Stripes album. What was your take on the Dixie Chicks' comments about President Bush and the fallout from it?

Brooks: You know, I don't really have a big take other than I honestly do believe in the freedom of speech and the right to be an American. If you're going to hang it out there and you have something to say and you feel real strongly about it, you need to back it up.

SI: Why have you and Ronnie stayed together for so long?

Brooks: I think we really appreciate the success we've been blessed with. We had 10 or 15 years of writing songs for other people and playing clubs and paying dues for a lot longer than most people probably do who have success. For lack of a better way of putting it, we just really appreciate how lucky we are, even after 12 or 13 years. We're just not inclined to let it go. We're still having the time of our lives.

SI: You went to the Richard Petty driving school in Charlotte a couple of years ago. Petty was your childhood idol. What was that like?

Brooks: It was great. He took Ronnie and me out on some laps in a van on the speedway. He was telling us about the handling, when to break, how to drive. After two laps and instruction after every 20 feet, I finally said, 'You got to tell us one thing to keep our heads in the game when we're out here driving. He said, "Well, hell, I guess I'm not the right person to ask because there's red and blue paint all over this speedway. I've wrecked here more than anybody."

SI: Say I put everybody who played at the Tribute Concert -- you and Ronnie, Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Sheryl Crow, Hootie and the Blowfish -- in separate race cars at Daytona. Who wins and who wrecks?

Brooks: I win. Kenny probably wrecks and all the Hootie guys would wreck, too.

--Richard Deitsch

Issue date: July 14, 2003

 

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