- Born Troyal Garth Brooks in Oklahoma in 1962.
- After several years of playing country music in bars and honky-tonks, Brooks moved to Nashville in 1987. By 1989, he released his first album, the self titled Garth Brooks. It was very successful, reaching #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. This was followed by his biggest selling album in 1990, No Fences. By now, Brooks was a superstar of superstars.
- He has released a total of 10 studio albums between 1989 and 2016 – 8 reached #1 on the country charts. Of his 51 singles, 19 reached #1 on the country charts. These numbers are staggering, indicative of total domination in the world of country music in the 90s.
- Brooks is the only artist ever to have 7 diamond-certified albums. A diamond-certified album has sales of over 10 million units. Worldwide sales of his albums exceed 160 million records, putting him #17 all time of all artists.
- Interestingly, he has only won 2 Grammy awards, though he has won dozens of awards from other organizations.
- His concerts in the 90s were amazing spectacles. He used a wireless microphone during his performances, allowing him to run all over the stage. His high energy shows included flying over the audience with cables, smashing guitars, pyrotechnics, and many other special effects. This greatly enhanced his popularity.
- Many of his songs were written or co-written by Brooks. He also performs many songs that are written by others. Brooks plays guitar and is the lead vocalist on his songs. He uses a large number of talented musicians and singers to back him. For example, the In Pieces album credits 25 people as contributing to the songs. Vocal harmonies are important elements in his music – as it is in most country music.
- His songs range from romantic ballads to kick-ass country rock songs. His fans love all of his styles. And…so do I!
- He retired in 2001 after the Scarecrow album was released, stating that he wanted to stay at home until his youngest daughter graduated from high school. He started to return to the industry in 2005, doing benefit concerts. By 2009, he began to perform weekend shows in Las Vegas, continuing this until early 2014. He followed this with a world tour in 2014, and that tour continues today.
- Garth is very protective of access to his music. As such, YouTube does not have much footage from his live concerts. That’s too bad for you – but I am happy to have you stop by my house to watch my Garth concert DVDs with me. If you can’t do that, well have a listen to The Dance.
Saw Garth & his wife Trisha two years ago with my daughter Taylor at the Garden in Boston. Great show.