Be One Of The First To Hear Jamey Johnson & Ronnie Dunn’s Brand-New Song, “Never Gonna Be”

Ronnie Dunn Wrote “Never Gonna Be” About Jamey Johnson Roughly 15 Years Ago – Now, They’re Singing It Together

Jamey Johnson and Brooks & Dunn‘s Ronnie Dunn are bringing things full circle with a brand-new collaboration. Except, the song actually isn’t so new after all.

Johnson opened for Brooks & Dunn in 2005-2006, so he was definitely on Dunn’s radar. But his career seriously started to pick up steam a few years later.

One day in 2010, Dunn sat down with Terry McBride to write a song…and they wrote it about Johnson. That song became “Never Gonna Be.”

Speaking about the track in a press release, Dunn said, “It was back when Jamey was just coming on strong, maybe just before he’d had ‘In Color.’ We were just looking at the new wave of outlaws coming into town.”

The lyrics started flowing, including lines such as:

“You can tell by his songs he’s done some living
Oh he’s danced with a heartache or two
Late night beer joint women
He’s out to walk in ole Hank’s shoes.“

Johnson heard the song and immediately connected with it. “It reminds me of those days when everybody out there was working hard and trying to get noticed and write a better song and perform a version of it live,” he said.

Johnson saved “Never Gonna Be” for over a decade and waited for the perfect moment to record it. That moment finally came earlier this year, when he sent the track to his producer, Buddy Cannon, to consider for a future album.

Cannon sent the song to Dunn, who didn’t remember it at first. But after he heard it again, “he remembered everything about it.”

With Dunn on board, Johnson got ready to record a collaboration 15 years in the making.

Listen To Ronnie And Jamey’s Full-Circle Collaboration, “Never Gonna Be”

After all this time, Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn released “Never Gonna Be” on Friday (September 12). Although Dunn and McBride thought of 2010-era Johnson while writing it, the song has stood the test of time.

Now, it also describes the continuous flow of young artists trying to catch a break in Nashville. It captures the spirit of those who find themselves “riding on high hopes, [and] living on dreams.”

For Johnson, the song is also a tribute to his friend and collaborator, producer Buddy Cannon. Years ago, the pair joined Bill Anderson to write “Give It Away,” which George Strait released in 2006. Both the CMA and the ACM named it the Song of the Year.

“It was cool that all of this happened through Buddy,” Johnson said about him and Dunn recording “Never Gonna Be.”

Now, you can be one of the first people to hear “Never Gonna Be” by listening to it in the lyric video below. After 15 years of waiting, the stars aligned for Dunn and Johnson to finally share this song with the world.