Big & Rich is an American country music duet comprised of songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists Big Kenny and John Rich. Rich was the bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar prior to the duo’s formation, and Kenny was a solo artist for Hollywood Records.
Horse of a Different Color, their debut studio album, was released in 2004. This album spawned four consecutive Top 40 country singles, including the number 11 “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy),” as well as collaborations with Cowboy Troy, Gretchen Wilson, and Martina McBride. In November 2005, Comin’ to Your City was released, followed by another Top 20 single, the Vietnam War-inspired “8th of November,” and two more Top 40 singles. Cowboy Troy, Wilson, and Kris Kristofferson joined the duo for this album. Their sole No. 1 single, “Lost in This Moment,” was released in 2007 between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace. Rich has worked as a producer and songwriter for various other artists both before and after the duo’s break.
Both musicians went on hiatus after this album and recorded solo albums in 2009, Big Kenny’s The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy and Rich’s Son of a Preacher Man. These also yielded the duo’s first Top 40 solo hits, “Long After I’m Gone” by Big Kenny and “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” by Rich. Big Kenny’s Love Everyone Traveling Musical Medicine Show Mix Tape, Vol. 2 was published in 2010 as his second solo country album. 1 & Rich’s extended plays For the Kids and Rich Rocks, the latter of which featured the Top 40 country single “Country Done Come to Town,” were released in 2011.
In May 2011, Big & Rich reunited to release “Fake ID,” a cut from the soundtrack of the 2011 film Footloose. A year later, the duo released their fourth album, Hillbilly Jedi, which yielded the Top 20 single “That’s Why I Pray”. Rich revealed in July 2013 that the team had begun work on Gravity, their fifth studio album, which was released independently. Another independent album, Did it For the Party, was announced in 2017 for a September release, with the track “California” leading the way.