Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States[2] with success on the country music single and album charts,[3] multi-platinum recordings and record-breaking live performances, while also crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.[4]
This article is about the performer. For his eponymous album, see Garth Brooks (album).
Garth Brooks
- Singer
- songwriter
-
Sandy Mahl(m. 1986; div. 2001)
3
- Vocals
- guitar
- piano
- 1985–2001
- 2005–present
Brooks is the only artist in music history to have released nine albums that were certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (surpassing The Beatles' former record of six); those albums are Garth Brooks (diamond), No Fences (17× platinum), Ropin' the Wind (14× platinum), The Chase (diamond), In Pieces (diamond), The Hits (diamond), Sevens (diamond), Double Live (21× platinum), and The Ultimate Hits (diamond).[5] Since 1989, Brooks has released 24 records in all, which include 14 studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, three Christmas albums, and four box sets, along with 77 singles. He has won several awards in his career, including two Grammy Awards, 17 American Music Awards (including "Artist of the '90s") and the RIAA Award for best-selling solo albums artist of the century in the U.S.
Troubled by conflicts between career and family, Brooks retired from recording and performing from 2001 until 2005.[4] During this time, he sold millions of albums through an exclusive distribution deal with Walmart and sporadically released new singles.[6][7] In 2005, Brooks started a partial comeback, giving select performances and releasing two compilation albums. In 2009, he began Garth at Wynn, a periodic weekend concert residency at Las Vegas's Encore Theatre from December 2009 to January 2014. Following the conclusion of the residency, Brooks announced his signing with Sony Music Nashville in July 2014.[8] In September 2014, he began his comeback world tour, with wife and musician Trisha Yearwood, which culminated in 2017. This was followed by his Stadium Tour, which began in 2019, and another Las Vegas concert residency, Garth Brooks/Plus ONE, continuing into 2024. His most recent album, Time Traveler, was released in November 2023.
Brooks is one of the world's best-selling music artists, having sold more than 170 million records.[9] Billboard ranked Brooks as the greatest male solo artist on the Billboard 200 chart of all time.[10] As of 2020, according to the RIAA, he is the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States with 156 million domestic units sold, ahead of Elvis Presley, and is second only to the Beatles in total album sales overall.[11] Brooks was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 21, 2012,[12] having been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame the year before.[13] He was also inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016 with his studio musicians, The G-Men.[14] In 2020, Brooks became the youngest recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.[15]
Early life and education
Troyal Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[16][1] He was the youngest child of Troyal Raymond Brooks Jr. (1931–2010), a draftsman for an oil company, and Colleen McElroy Carroll (1929–1999), a 1950s-era country singer of Irish[17] ancestry who recorded on the Capitol Records label and appeared on Ozark Jubilee.[18][19][20] This was the second marriage for each of his parents, giving Brooks four older half-siblings (Jim, Jerry, Mike, and Betsy). The couple had two children together, Kelly and Garth.[21] At their home in Yukon, Oklahoma, the family hosted weekly talent nights. All of the children were required to participate, either by singing or doing skits.[22] Brooks learned to play both the guitar and banjo.[23]
As a child, Brooks often sang in casual family settings, but his primary focus was athletics. In high school, he played football and baseball and ran track and field. He received a track scholarship to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he competed in the javelin.[20][24] At nights, he worked as a bouncer at a local bar and formed his own band, Santa Fe, learning to play whatever the college audience wanted.[25] Brooks graduated in 1984 with a degree in advertising.[24] His roommate, Ty England, later played guitar in his road band until going solo in 1995.[26]
Career
1985–1989: Musical beginnings
In 1985, Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, most notably Wild Willie's Saloon in Stillwater.[27] Through his elder siblings, Brooks was exposed to a wide range of music. Although he listened to some country music, especially that of George Jones, Brooks was most fond of rock music, citing James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, and Townes Van Zandt as major influences.[22] In 1981, after hearing "Unwound", the debut single of George Strait, Brooks decided that he was more interested in playing country music.[22]
In 1985, entertainment attorney Rod Phelps drove from Dallas to listen to Brooks. Phelps liked what he heard and offered to produce Brooks' first demo. With Phelps' encouragement, including a list of Phelps' contacts in Nashville and some of his credit cards, Brooks traveled to Nashville to pursue a recording contract; he returned to Oklahoma within 24 hours.[28] Phelps continued to urge Brooks to return to Nashville, which he did. In 1987, Brooks and wife Sandy Mahl moved to Nashville, and Brooks began making contacts in the music industry.
1989–1990: Breakthrough success
Garth Brooks' eponymous first album was released in 1989 and was a chart success. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. Most of the album was traditionalist country, influenced in part by George Strait.[19] The first single, "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)", was a country top 10 success. It was followed by Brooks' first number-one single on the Hot Country Songs chart, "If Tomorrow Never Comes". "Not Counting You" reached No. 2, and "The Dance" reached No. 1; its music video, directed by John Lloyd Miller, gave Brooks his first push towards a broader audience. Brooks has later claimed that out of all the songs he has recorded, "The Dance" remains his favorite.[19] In 1989, Brooks embarked on his first major concert tour, as opening act for Kenny Rogers.
Brooks' second album, No Fences, was released in 1990 and spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.[29] The album also reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and eventually became Brooks' highest-selling album, with domestic shipments of 17 million.[30] It contained what would become Brooks' signature song, the blue collar anthem "Friends in Low Places", as well as other popular singles, "The Thunder Rolls" and "Unanswered Prayers".
Each of these songs, as well as "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House", reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart.[19][29]
While Brooks' musical style placed him squarely within the boundaries of country music, he was strongly influenced by the 1970s singer-songwriter movement, especially the works of James Taylor, whom he idolized and named his first child after, as well as Dan Fogelberg.[31][32] Similarly, Brooks was influenced by the 1970s-era rock of Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen and the operatic rock of Queen with Freddie Mercury.
In his live shows, Brooks used a wireless headset microphone to free himself to run about the stage, adding energy and arena rock theatrics to spice up the normally staid country music approach to concerts. The band KISS was also one of Brooks' early musical influences, and his shows often reflect this. Despite all the cited influences, Brooks stated the energetic style of his stage persona is directly inspired by Chris LeDoux.[33]
In late 1990, Brooks was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.[34][35]
1991–1993: Ropin' the Wind, The Chase, and Beyond the Season
Brooks' third album, Ropin' the Wind, was released in September 1991. It had advance orders of 4 million copies and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 1, a first for a country artist.[18] The album's musical content was a melange of country pop and honky-tonk; singles included "The River", "What She's Doing Now", and a cover of Billy Joel's "Shameless". It would become Brooks' second-best selling album, after No Fences. The success of Ropin' the Wind further propelled the sales of Brooks' first two albums, enabling Brooks to become the first country artist with three albums listed in the Billboard 200's top 20 in one week.[36]
After spending time in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots, Brooks co-wrote a gospel-country-rock hybrid single, "We Shall Be Free", to express his desire for tolerance.[37] The song became the first single off his fourth album The Chase. The single only reached No. 12 on the Billboard Top Country Singles chart, Brooks' first song in three years to fail to make the top 10.[38][39] Nonetheless, "We Shall Be Free" peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard Christian Songs charts through a marketing deal with Rick Hendrix Company, and earned Brooks a 1993 GLAAD Media Award.[40][41] The next single released from The Chase was "Somewhere Other Than the Night", followed by "Learning to Live Again", which peaked at numbers one and two on the Hot Country Songs chart, respectively. The album's final single, "That Summer", would go on to be the most successful single from the album, reaching No. 1 in July 1993.[42]
Brooks released his first Christmas album, Beyond the Season on August 25, 1992. The album included classics such as "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" as well as an original tune "The Old Man's Back in Town." "Beyond the Season" was the best selling Christmas album in 1992, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.[43]
The G-Men
The vast majority of Brooks' recordings have used the same studio band, known collectively as the "G-Men". These are Bruce Bouton (steel guitar), Mark Casstevens (acoustic guitar), Mike Chapman (bass guitar), Rob Hajacos (fiddle), Milton Sledge (drums), and Bobby Wood (keyboards), along with sound engineer Mark Miller, who took over from Allen Reynolds as Brooks' producer starting with Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences.[100] Chapman died on June 13, 2016.[101]
Other ventures
Professional baseball
In 1998, Brooks launched his Touch 'em All Foundation with Major League Baseball. He also began with a short career in baseball, when he signed with the San Diego Padres for spring training in 1998 and 1999.[102] Brooks' performance on the field did not warrant management placing him on the regular season roster; however, he was offered a non-roster spot, but declined it.[103] The following season, Brooks signed with the New York Mets. This spring-training stint was also a poor performance for Brooks, resulting in a zero-for-seventeen batting record.[104] In 2004, Brooks returned to baseball with the Kansas City Royals.[105] He got his first and only hit off Mike Myers during his final spring training game with the Royals.[106]
In 2019, Brooks made a return to spring training, joining the Pittsburgh Pirates to promote his charity.[107]
Pearl Records
In 2005, Brooks ended his association with Capitol Records and established his own record label, Pearl Records.[108] Brooks has released four compilation albums via Pearl Records, as well as his 2014 and 2016 studio albums plus any future releases (also released through RCA Records Nashville).
