Brooks & Dunn, Graham Greene, Reba McEntire, Mo Brings Plenty, and more cracked jokes, swapped intimate stories, and shared wisdom at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum’s Western Heritage Awards.
Oklahoma City was aglow with the Western spirit this past weekend as country music icons, award-winning actors, rodeo legends, and Western industry leaders gathered at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum for the 2025 Western Heritage Awards. In the past, the prestigious awards show has inducted the likes of Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Kevin Costner into its Hall of Great Western Performers. This year’s class of awardees and honorees was headed by famed country duo Brooks & Dunn and acclaimed Indigenous actor Graham Greene. The Western glitterati had a memorable time swapping stories, cracking jokes, and reminiscing about their vast careers.
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Awards got the weekend started with a swanky kickoff party, featuring a denim carpet provided by Cowboys & Indians where attendees could show off their classic Western fashion. In addition to the photo op, visitors were greeted by a stylish Lucchese Bootmaker booth, stocked full of handcrafted boots. A community partner of the museum, Lucchese has engaged in many activations in conjunction with the museum, including the Cowboy Boots: From Roundups to Runways exhibition. Lucchese’s most recent activation, a limited-edition National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum-themed boot handcrafted in El Paso, Texas, glistened in the light as attendees walked by, debating whether or not to grab a pair for themselves.
As guests made their way into the ballroom, they were greeted by the bumping of country music and the neon glow of party lights. Presented by Pendleton Whiskey, the party featured food, drinks, live music and a dance floor along with the opportunity to mingle with some of the West’s most influential folks. Wyatt McCrea, Trevor Hedeman, Jennifer Rogers Etcheverry, the Timmermann family, and other legacies caught up with one another, while up-and-coming Western stars like rodeo athlete and model Ronnie Davis, Dancing with the Rodeo Stars contestant Carlye Zeringue, and Western influencers Hunter Paige and Natalie Kovarick connected.
As speculation buzzed throughout the room about whether or not Brooks & Dunn would make an appearance on the dance floor, C&I asked guests to choose between “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” and “Neon Moon” — two of the duo’s greatest hits. While the choice was tough and the call was close, “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” pulled ahead as the top song of the night.
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After dancing the night away on Friday, attendees made their way back to the museum for a chance to get a glimpse of honorees Brooks & Dunn and Graham Greene at Saturday morning’s panel led by actor Rex Linn. The four men cracked jokes like old friends, often at one another’s expense. When asked what actors he would still like to work with, Greene replied, “There are a lot [of actors] around that still need work.” Linn then asked, “Can you name one?” to which Greene responded, “Rex Linn.”
Kix Brooks recalled an instance in which his and Greene’s worlds briefly collided. He shared his memory of recruiting a Hollywood makeup artist to cover up a facial scar he acquired by hitting himself in the face with a guitar after “overserving [him]self,” only to realize that the makeup artist he recruited had been in charge of buffalo cosmetics on Dances With Wolves. “He was not the guy,” Brooks concluded jokingly.
The country duo also humored Rex Linn with anecdotes from their Vegas residency with Linn’s girlfriend, country superstar Reba McEntire. Ronnie Dunn remembered being called out by the fiery redhead for his unusually large belt buckle just before the two went onstage for the iconic 2015 “Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas” residency. Brooks countered with a moment in which Reba called him out for messing around backstage during her duet with Dunn.
While the two poked fun at their experience with McEntire, they credited her for reconnecting them after their temporary split in 2009. “I’m really grateful we did have that reunion,” Kix said of their residency with Reba. “And Rex, you should know better than anybody that when a hotheaded redhead goes ‘Y’all get your guitars and get out here to Las Vegas. We’re gonna do this …’”
The duo did shed more light on their 2009 split. “Too much of a good thing is just too much sometimes,” Dunn remarked. “There was never a rift between us. No arguments, no fights. We just looked at each other and went, ‘Man, I feel a little burnt-out.” Brooks added, “Thirty-five years. Hard-headed, short-fused grown men — we’ve never raised our voices to each other one time.”
Graham Greene had behind-the-scenes stories to spare as well. When asked about his experience shooting Dances With Wolves, Greene recalled a thunderstorm that swept through South Dakota during filming. The storm spooked the bison being used for the film, causing them to flee eight to 10 miles off set until they were caught by wranglers. Greene spoke to the rough-and-ready nature of the filming process. “I had no idea it was going to be what it was or what we were doing. We would be in one location one day and the next day they wouldn’t tell us. We’d just all load into a van, show up, shoot the thing, and hope to God I remembered Lakota.”
In a moment of seriousness, Greene contemplated Indigenous representation in film prior to starting his career. “A lot of my inspiration came from watching television and going, ‘That can’t be right. I’ve got to go down to Hollywood and fix this.’” When asked what advice he’d give to young actors trying to break into the business, Greene replied with his signature tongue-in-cheek wit: “Learn how to wait tables. Get your cab license. Make sure your zipper is up before you go onstage, and don’t leave your wallet in the dressing room.”
Brooks & Dunn also commented on their careers. “People ask us all the time in interviews: What’s your big goal in this business?” Ronnie said. “It’s just longevity, to be able to stick around and make our mark. That’s the goal — to write what you see and live.”
Kix added, “When you light up a room and they sing it louder than you do and you look at those faces and know this means something to them — that’s when I walk off the stage going, ‘Man, we did something there. We really did.’”
Jeans and blouses became gowns and turquoise jewelry as Saturday night rolled around, signaling the beginning of the weekend’s main event — the 2025 Western Heritage Awards ceremony. Rex Linn served as the night’s emcee, welcoming a star-studded array of guest presenters including Reba McEntire, Mo Brings Plenty, Bailey Chase, and Bruce Boxleitner.
Awards were given to outstanding Westerners in music, literature, art, journalism, film, and lifetime achievement. Among the notable honorees were renowned conservationist Warner Glenn, acclaimed photographer Louise O’Connor, cowboy poet Baxter Black, and legendary actor Anthony Quinn.
Warner Glenn spoke with C&I after receiving the Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award: “Oh my word, it’s a huge honor. The way of life that we’re living was what Chester A. Reynolds was trying to keep alive. And I’ll tell you, I really appreciate that.”
Katherine Quinn, who accepted the Hall of Great Western Performers Award on behalf of Anthony Quinn, gave an emotional speech honoring her late husband. She later ruminated on what her husband would be doing if he were there. “He would be having fun. He’d be just paling around with everybody here, sporting a hat. He just embodied everything that this museum represents.”
Indigenous actor and C&I cover star Mo Brings Plenty graced the stage to accept the Outstanding Fictional Drama Award on behalf of Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, one year after receiving the New Horizon Award himself in 2024. “It’s always a great honor to be a part of anything that Taylor does, whether it’s an award or storyline,” he told C&I. “Taylor is such an amazing cowboy and human being. He’s a great individual to be spearheading an almost-forgotten culture — the cowboy culture and the American Indian culture.”
Closing out the night were Lifetime Achievement Award winners Brooks & Dunn and Hall of Great Western Performers inductee Graham Greene. Ronnie Dunn and Kix Brooks dedicated their award to the true cowboys that inspired them. Dunn spoke of his father’s work in the pipeline business and the admiration he developed for the hardworking man behind the legendary cowboy mythology. Brooks dedicated a portion of his speech to his admiration for rodeo legend Tuff Hedeman, who once taught him a valuable lesson about how to spot “rodeo trash” after stealing all of the beers from his tour trailer. The two concluded by humbly thanking the museum for the opportunity to be a small part of its great legacy.
Rex Linn took to the stage to present the Hall of Great Western Performers distinction to Graham Greene. During his introductory speech, Linn read a personal message from Kevin Costner, who worked with Greene on Dances With Wolves. “Many actors are trained. Few are gifted. Graham was both,” Costner wrote of his former co-star. Graham concluded the ceremony with a touching speech full of wit and sincerity. He thanked his wife for her unwavering support — “I’ve only loved one woman, and there she is.”
As the ceremony concluded, attendees and honorees hugged, shook hands, and continued to chat while making their way along the history-filled corridors of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, unwilling to part with their fellow Westerners. As the last of the attendees made their way outside, people could be heard humming “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” — a tune they would likely have stuck in their heads for a long while.
2025 Western Heritage Awards Honorees and Inductees
Outstanding Traditional Western Music Album Award
Hilary Gardner
Outstanding Original Western Composition Award
Montie Carol Montgomery
2025 Chester A. Reynolds Memorial Award
Warner Glenn
Outstanding Nonfiction Book Award
Corey Recko
Outstanding Western Novel Award
Marcela Fuentes
Outstanding Juvenile Book Award
Carolyn Wills
Outstanding Art Book Award
Light Townsend Cummins (accepted by Thom Lemmons)
Hall of Great Westerners Award
Dr. Baxter Black (accepted by Cindy Lou Black)
Outstanding Magazine Article Award
Kathryn Wilder
Outstanding Poetry Book Award
Bruce Roseland
Hall of Great Westerners Award
Louise S. O’Connor
Hall of Great Western Performers Award
Anthony Quinn (accepted by Katherine Quinn)
Outstanding Western Lifestyle Program Award
Wendy Corr
Outstanding Documentary Award
Bob Terry
Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture Award
Marc Marriott
Outstanding Fictional Drama Award
Taylor Sheridan (accepted by Mo Brings Plenty)
Lifetime Achievement Award
Brooks & Dunn
Hall of Great Western Performers
Graham Greene
PHOTOGRAPHY: Gigi Elyse/Jensen Sutta/One Two Seven Co
