Brooks & Dunn splitting up after 20 years together

Brooks & Dunn splitting up after 20 years together

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Brooks & Dunn are done.

Best-selling country duo Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn posted a message on their Web site Monday saying they agreed to “call it a day” after 20 years of making music together.

“This ride has been everything and more than we could ever have dreamed. ... We owe it all to you, the fans,” they said in the message. “If you hear rumors, don’t believe them; it’s just time.”

Brooks & Dunn will release a greatest-hits album Sept. 8 and tour one last time in 2010.

The duo’s many hits include “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” “My Maria,” “Red Dirt Road” and “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” with Reba McEntire. The men’s label, Arista Nashville, said the group has sold more than 30 million albums.

Rapper convicted of second-degree murder

GRETNA, La. — Rapper Corey “C-Murder” Miller has been convicted of second-degree murder in the 2002 shooting of a fan at a nightclub.

The Louisiana jury reached the 10-2 verdict Tuesday afternoon in its second day of deliberations. Jurors had reached the same verdict earlier in the day, but District Judge Hans Liljeberg ordered them back to the jury room for more deliberation because of a questionable vote. Liljeberg initially said one juror changed her vote just to end deliberations.

Miller faces life in prison for the killing of 16-year-old Steve Thomas.

Today’s birthdays

Actor George Hamilton is 70. Country singer Danny Shirley (Confederate Railroad) is 53. Rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is 46. Actor Michael Ian Black (“Ed”) is 38. Actor Casey Affleck is 34.