Garth Brooks' Early Life
Troyal Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He grew up singing and performing in family settings, learning to play both the guitar and banjo at an early age. He graduated from college with an advertising degree and formed a band while there.
He began his professional music career in 1985, singing and playing in Oklahoma clubs and bars, before entertainment attorney Rod Phelps discovered him and pursued him to move to Nashville to sign a recording contract. He eventually did so in 1987.
Garth Brooks' Rise to Fame and Success
Brooks' self-titled debut album was released in 1989 and quickly became a commercial success, being certified diamond in the United States. His follow-up, 1990's No Fences, was an even bigger success, selling over 18 million copies nationwide and remaining the singer's best-selling album in the United States. It also produced what is now considered to be his signature song, "Friends in Low Places."
He embarked on his first world tour during 1993-94, a rare feat for a country act at the time, and continued releasing a steady stream of successful albums till 2001's Scarecrow, when he announced his retirement. From 2001-2005, he only performed sporadically and released compilation albums.
In 2009, he began Garth at Wynn, a periodic weekend Las Vegas concert residency that won acclaim and ran till 2013, when he announced a new world tour and returned with the album Man Against Machine (2014). He has since released several more albums, most recently 2020's Fun. He is the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States with nine diamond certified records: studio albums Garth Brooks, No Fences, Ropin' the Wind (1991), The Chase (1992), In Pieces (1993), Sevens (1997); the compilation albums The Hits (1994) and The Ultimate Hits (2007); and the live album Double Live (1998), the best-selling live album in US history.
Garth Brooks' Personal Life
Brooks has established himself as one of the most outspoken country artists with his fierce support for gay rights and marriage equality. He has also branched out into other charitable work, entrepreneurship (through radio stations and a digital music platform called GhostTunes), and a brief tenure in professional baseball.
In 1986, Brooks married songwriter Sandy Mahl. They welcomed three daughters: Taylor Mayne Pearl (b. 1992), August Anna (b. 1994), and Allie Colleen Brooks (b. 1996). They separated in 2000 and their divorce was finalized in 2001. In 2005, he married fellow country singer and frequent collaborator Trisha Yearwood.
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