Garth Brooks

Career

Brooks began his professional music career in 1985, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, most notably Wild Willie's Saloon in Stillwater. Through his elder siblings, he was exposed to a wide range of music; although he listened to some country music, especially that of George Jones, he was most fond of rock music, citing James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg, and Townes Van Zandt as major influences. In 1981, after hearing "Unwound", the debut single of George Strait, Brooks decided he was more interested in playing country music.

In 1985, entertainment attorney Rod Phelps drove from Dallas to listen to Brooks, liked what he heard, and offered to produce his first demo. With Phelps' encouragement, including a list of 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. Phelps continued to urge Brooks to return to Nashville, which he did. In 1987, Brooks and wife Sandy Mahl moved to Nashville, and he began making contacts in the music industry.

The first single, "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)", was a country top 10 success, followed by his 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 gave Brooks his first push toward a broader audience. In 1989, he embarked on his first major concert tour as opening act for Kenny Rogers. His second album, No Fences, released in 1990, spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and became his highest-selling album with domestic shipments of 18 million.

It contained his signature song "Friends in Low Places", as well as "The Thunder Rolls" and "Unanswered Prayers". Each of these songs, along with "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House", reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Personal life

Brooks graduated in 1984 with a degree in advertising from Oklahoma State University, where he competed in the javelin. 1992), August Anna (b. He remarried on December 10, 2005, to country singer Trisha Yearwood.

Awards and records

Brooks 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. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on October 21, 2012, having been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame the year before. He was also inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2016 with his studio musicians, The G-Men. In 2020, Brooks became the youngest recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.