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Country Throwback: Brooks & Dunn Perform ‘Better All The Time’ at 2004 CMA Awards

Throwback to the 28th Annual CMA Awards with us as hosts Brooks & Dunn perform their classic ballad, “Better All The Time.”

2004 was an exceptional year for Brooks & Dunn. The iconic country duo would host the CMA Awards that year. In doing so, they hold the honor of being the last to host the CMAs while held in the famous Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee.

But the boys didn’t just host the CMAs in 2004. That year, Brooks & Dunn were on absolute fire with their hit album, Red Dirt Road. The album was such a huge success with country fans that it garnered the duo a CMA nomination for “Album of the Year.”

Unfortunately, they lost out on the award to Kenny Chesney, who was also having a stellar year in 2004 with his own record-breaking album, When the Sun Goes Down. As such, Chesney would also beat the boys out for “Entertainer of the Year.”

This, however, wouldn’t stop Brooks & Dunn from winning “Vocal Duo of the Year” at the CMAs while hosting that year. In doing so, they beat out names like Big & Rich, Blue County, Montgomery Gentry, and The Warren Brothers.

Alan Jackson Dominated 2004’s CMA Nominations, Took Home Zero Wins

The 2004 Country Music Association Awards‘ 38th Ceremony took place on November 9, 2004, to positive reviews for both the show at large and on behalf of hosts Brooks & Dunn. While their three nominations that year were both impressive and an honor for the hosts, it was their contemporary Alan Jackson who took home the most nominations.

Indeed, Alan Jackson led the pack that year with a whopping 7 nominations, including “Album of the Year,” “Male Vocalist of the Year,” and the lauded “Entertainer of the Year.”

In contrast, hosts Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn amassed three nominations and won one – the aforementioned “Vocal Duo of the Year.”

Alongside their hosting duties, the duo would also perform multiple hits during 2004’s CMAs. Among them, of course, was a classic country ballad: “Better All The Time.”

Watch Brooks & Dunn Perform ‘Better All The Time’ at 2004 CMAs

Country fans know “Better All The Time” as one of the biggest country hits of the early 2000s. Moreover, it remains one of Brooks & Dunns’ best-selling singles to this day.

The song itself was written by Ronnie Bowman and Don Cook, and recorded by Brooks & Dunn for their compilation album The Greatest Hits Collection II. As a single from this album, it reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in November 2004.

Sample the classic lyrics below, and get yourself in the mood to feel “Better All The Time” at the 2004 CMAs with Brooks & Dunn:

I don’t stop breathin’ every time the phone rings
My heart don’t race when someone’s at my door
I’ve almost given up thinkin’ you’re ever gonna call
I don’t believe in magic anymore
I just don’t lie awake at night,
Askin’ God to get you off my mind

It’s gettin’ better all the time,
It’s gettin’ better all the time

Yeah, I got to work on time again this mornin’
This old job is all that I got a left
And no one even noticed I’d been cryin’
But, at least I don’t have whiskey on my breath
Yeah, I think I’m gonna make it
‘Cause God won’t make a mountain I can’t climb

It’s gettin’ better all the time,
It’s gettin’ better all the time

Without further ado, throwback to November 9, 2004 for the 38th Annual CMA Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee (what a mouthful), as we watch Brooks & Dunn perform “Better All The Time” live on stage:

Brooks & Dunn – Better All the Time (Live at 2004 CMAs)

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For all the best Country Throwbacks from your favorite icons, including Brooks & Dunn, stick with your fellow country fans at Outsider.com.