(1962-)
Who Is Garth Brooks?
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 7, 1962, Garth Brooks signed with Capitol Records and released his self-titled first album in 1989. His third studio effort, Ropin’ the Wind, was the first country album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. He is the only artist in history to have won seven CMA Entertainer of the Year awards and to have received eight Diamond awards for album sales.
Early Career
Brooks got his start in music singing in bars and clubs while attending Oklahoma State University. In 1987, he moved to Nashville. With help from music manager Bob Doyle, Brooks eventually signed to Capitol Records. His early hits include "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "The Dance."
Commercial Success
Although sales for the singer's first album, Garth Brooks (1989), were good, it would have been hard to predict the amazing success of later releases.
Brooks' second effort, No Fences (1990), spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Album chart, selling 17 million copies. The album included his bar anthem "Friends in Low Places" and "The Thunder Rolls."
His third, Ropin' the Wind (1991), raked in a record-breaking four million orders before its release, and became the first album by a country singer to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts.
His 1998 release, Garth Brooks Double Live, sold over one million copies in its first week of sales, breaking the previous record.
Other hit albums include The Chase (1992), In Pieces (1993), Fresh Horses (1995), Sevens (1997) and Scarecrow (2001).
Brooks's live concerts have also been extremely successful. An August 7, 1997, concert in New York City's Central Park drew an estimated 850,000 to 1.2 million people.
Retirement and Personal Life
Brooks announced at the end of 2000 that he wanted to spend more time with his family, including daughters, Taylor Mayne Pearl (born 1992), August Anna (born 1994), and Allie Colleen (born 1996). He released Scarecrow in 2001, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. It would be his last studio album for over a decade.
Previously married to songwriter Sandy Mahl, Brooks wed fellow country music superstar Trisha Yearwood in December 2005.
Wynn Las Vegas
In 2009, Brooks accepted a three-year stint for a string of performances at the Wynn Las Vegas. The intimate performances given by Brooks — his set only featured Brooks and his guitar, as he shared personal life experiences and the importance of his family— resonated with audiences and proved to be a huge success for the artist. The country star played sold-out shows throughout the entirety of his residency.
For the final show on November 29, 2013, Brooks partnered up with CBS for a live broadcast event. The TV special received 9.33 million viewers and claimed the No. 1 spot in the ratings for the night.
Hall of Fame Honors
One of the top-selling country music artists of all time, Brooks has received several special honors in recent years. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. The following year, Brooks also became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was inducted by George Strait, James Taylor and Bob Seger.
New Albums and World Tour
In July 2014, Brooks announced an upcoming album and world tour. The singer inked a record contract with Sony Music Nashville for his first studio album since 2001’s Scarecrow. The album, Man Against Machine, came out in November 2014.
In late 2016, Brooks debuted two new projects: His 10th studio album, Gunslinger, as well as a collaboration with his wife on a collection of holiday standards, Christmas Together. Brooks and Yearwood hit the road on the Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood. The tour lasted three and a half years and sold over 6.3 million tickets, making it the biggest North American tour in history.
In November 2019, Brooks was honored with the Entertainer of the Year Award at the CMAs for a record seventh time. That year he also received iHeart Radio’s inaugural Artist of the Decade Award at the iHeart Radio Awards in Los Angeles. It was presented to Garth by Chris Pratt.
Brooks is currently working on his fourteenth studio album, Fun. In March 2019, he hit the road on The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour. For more information on Garth, his upcoming album, tour and more visit garthbrooks.com.
A&E Biography Special 'Garth Brooks: The Road I'm On'
A&E Network’s genre-defining, Emmy Award-winning 'Biography’ franchise premiered the two-part definitive documentary highlighting the prolific career of Brooks, the best-selling solo artist of all time. Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On premiered over two consecutive nights Monday, December 2 and Tuesday, December 3 at 9 pm ET/PT on A&E. The documentary offered an intimate look into Brooks’ life as a musician, father, and man as well as the moments that have defined his decade-spanning career and essential hit songs.
Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On chronicled Brooks' life and career from his early days playing gigs at college bars in Oklahoma and his first unsuccessful trip to Nashville to his record-breaking world tours and balancing family life with global fame. The special highlighted the deeply personal journey and profound legacy of a genre-defining musical figure for the first time. In addition to exclusive interviews with Brooks told his life story for the first time, the documentary featured never-before-seen interviews with Trisha Yearwood, Billy Joel, Keith Urban, George Strait, James Taylor, friend and original bandmate Ty England, songwriter Tony Arata as well as many others from Brooks’ personal and musical family. The documentary also showcased unprecedented access to the seven-time CMA Entertainer of the Year’s current record-setting stadium tour and delved into the stories behind his eight RIAA Diamond Award-winning albums.
"If I was ever going to do a documentary on my life and music, I wanted A&E to do it,” Brooks said. “They have interviewed all of the people who would know what the true stories are so no matter how this turns out, I can't say it isn't the truth."
QUICK FACTS
- Birth Year: 1962
- Birth date: February 7, 1962
- Birth State: Oklahoma
- Birth City: Tulsa
- Birth Country: United States
- Gender: Male
- Best Known For: Garth Brooks has received every accolade the music industry can bestow on an artist and is the top-selling solo artist in U.S history with over 148 million album sales.
- Industries
- Country
- Astrological Sign: Aquarius
- Interesting Facts
- In January 2012, Garth Brooks was named the best-selling artist of the Soundscan era, which spans 20 years. The Beatles took spot No. 2.
- The third album released by Garth Brooks in 1991, Ropin' the Wind, was the first album by a country artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts.
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QUOTES
- I think my gift truly is I'm an average guy. What I like, an average guy likes. It's that simple. The music that I love, I find that most guys around me love, too.
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