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Ronnie Dunn has been battling illness recently, and it forced him to end a concert early. The Brooks & Dunn singer performed with his band on April 3 in Indianapolis, and audience members report that he walked off stage mid-song.
The band has been performing for 37 years, and, after going their separate ways in 2009, they reunited to record Reboot (2019) and Reboot II (2024). Now, they’re touring the country on their Neon Moon tour, with dates through April.
On Thursday, the 71-year-old-singer spent some of the show sitting down, and the band was in the middle of performing their hit song “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” when Ronnie told the crowd, “Sing it if you know it!” and waved before walking off stage. In a video from the show shared on Tik Tok, fans said, “We were there! He muscled thru it! He was hurting.” Another wrote, “Sounds like he was having trouble breathing.”
The band hasn’t given an update on Ronnie’s health, but in their latest Instagram post, fans took the opportunity to send their well-wishes to the singer with messages like, “Sending love and healing thoughts your way” and “We hope Ronnie gets well soon. Great show in Indy. B&D never disappoints!”
Just two weeks ago, the singer was fighting through the flu and strep throat, and in December, he had knee-replacement surgery after a skiing accident. Still, Ronnie seemed to recover quickly and returned to the stage on Friday night. One fan on Tik Tok reported, “He played Peoria [Illinois] the following night and absolutely dominated. He’s fine.”
The duo will continue to perform throughout the year as they join Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” tour on select dates. We hope Ronnie finds time to rest during this busy time!
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
