Garth Brooks is one of the most played and best selling musicians of all time according to Billboard. He was born on February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Troyal and Colleen Brooks. He father is a retired Marine, his mother was a homemaker and a former recording artist. He was raised in nearby Yukon, Oklahoma, where his father still resides. His mother passed away in 1999. She had also been a Capitol Records recording artist, back in the 1950s and saw some success with a singing career.
While he was a student at Oklahoma State University, he met and and later took as his wife Sandy. They were married on May 24, 1986. It was also during college that he made friends with most of his current band, especially Ty England. They wrote songs, played the guitar, and basically lived the college life until Garth graduated with a degree in Journalism and Advertising. He and Sandy managed a boot shop for a few years, and then decided to make a trip to Nashville to peddle some demo tapes to a few record company executives. It did not work out well. They decided to give Nashville another try, and this time it worked.
His first album, Garth Brooks, was a sensation in 1989. With hits such as “Much Too Young To Look This Old” and “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” the album sold 7 million copies and sealed forever his fate as country music’s most sought after entertainer. Each of his albums after that has also been multi-platinum, selling millions of copies, both to country music fans and also to fans of other musical tastes. Garth says “I didn’t realize in the beginning how far we would get with the music…it all just ‘happened’ at once…and it was almost scary!”
In 1998, Garth announced that he would take a year off from performing. This is probably a wise move for Garth. Not necessarily for himself, but for his caring for the careers of other struggling country music artists. It would take the spotlight off him and shine it on the others that are trying to make ends meet in a slimming country music market. But Garth was not completely out of the limelight. He went to training camp with the San Diego Padres, made numerous television appearances, interviews, and visits that were at least designed to keep him in the news.
In August of 1999, Garth’s mother, Colleen Carroll Brooks, passed away at the age of 70 after a long battle with cancer. The entire Brooks family, including Garth, had kept a vigil by her bedside in her Oklahoma City hospital room. The family had to request that she be classified as a confidential patient in order to attain much needed privacy. His mother had always called herself her son’s number one fan, even before he struck gold in country music. A recent hit of his, before her death, had been written in honor of her, titled “It’s Your Song.”
Garth’s most recent, and most controversial move, was his album and movie “In The Life Of Chris Gaines.” Although the album sold multi-platinum and won rave reviews for Garth’s flexibility, many in the country music world viewed it as turning country music into pop music. Still others viewed it as the opposite. Regardless of which view won out, it was country music at the fore-front at the end of the 20th century, all due in a large part to Garth Brooks.
Garth’s most important goal is to spend time with his growing family. He currently lives just north of Nashville on a farm he calls “Some Day Valley.” He and his wife Sandy recently filed for divorce in Tennessee. They have three children, Taylor Mayne Pearl (in honor of Minnie Pearl) born in 1992, August Anna born in 1994, and Allie Colleen born in 1996.