This photo, taken in June 2011 at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards, was no doubt a big moment for the country music singer, as actor Morgan Freeman is the star of the prison-break movie from 1994.
Troyal Garth Brooks is an American singer and songwriter. His integration of rock and roll elements into the country genre has earned him immense popularity in the United States.
Background
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 7, 1962. 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 ancestry who recorded on the Capitol Records label and appeared on Ozark Jubilee.
Education
A track-and-field scholarship brought Brooks to Oklahoma State University, and it was there that he met guitarist Ty England, with whom he began performing at area nightclubs. Brooks graduated with a degree in advertising in 1984 and moved to Nashville the following year, hoping to break into the music business.
Brooks released his eponymous debut album in 1989, and he was joined by England in a partnership that became one of the most lucrative in country music. Touring in support of the debut album, the two established an easy onstage banter that became a trademark of Brooks’s live shows. While Garth Brooks sold well, listeners and critics could not have anticipated what was to come. In 1990 Brooks released No Fences, a blockbuster that sold more than 17 million copies on the strength of singles such as “Friends in Low Places.” While his music blurred the line between pop and country, his live performances eschewed country traditions altogether, embracing instead the spectacle of 1970s arena rock. Concerts incorporated pyrotechnics and light shows, and Brooks used a wireless hands-free microphone that allowed him to roam the stage.
Brooks followed his breakthrough release with Ropin’ the Wind (1991), another genre-bending album that was equal parts honky-tonk and classic rock. It debuted at the top of the Billboard pop chart and went on to sell more than 14 million copies. Brooks turned away from the pop sound of his previous works to deliver the holiday album Beyond the Season (1992) and the introspective The Chase (1992). Although both releases posted sales figures in the millions, The Chase was regarded as somewhat of a disappointment, and Brooks returned to playful rock-influenced tunes on In Pieces (1993). Later releases included Fresh Horses (1995) and Sevens (1997), as well as the concert album Double Live (1998).
In 1999 Brooks took the unusual step of recording a straightforward pop album under the pseudonym Chris Gaines. The Gaines character, portrayed by Brooks as a goateed rocker dressed in black leather, came complete with a fictional backstory as well as an assortment of “greatest hits” that were collected on In the Life of Chris Gaines (1999). While the album featured impeccable production from the likes of Babyface and Don Was, its content was overshadowed by questions about why Brooks would take his career in such an unexpected direction.
The following year Brooks and his wife divorced, and he announced that he would put music on hold until his youngest daughter’s 18th birthday. His next record, Scarecrow (2001), would be his last studio effort released before his extended break, and it sold briskly to fans who welcomed Brooks’s return to country pop. In 2005 Brooks married fellow country star and frequent duet partner Trisha Yearwood. While he remained committed to his “retirement,” Brooks occasionally performed live shows - most notably at a series of nine sold-out concerts in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2007 and a five-show benefit for Los Angeles firefighters and wildfire victims in 2008. These brief engagements seemed to reveal a performer eager to return to the stage, and in October 2009 Brooks officially confirmed the end of his retirement and an extended run at a Las Vegas casino.
In 2013 Brooks released a compilation box set, Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influence, that was based on his residency show in Las Vegas, and the following year he launched a world tour. His first studio album in 13 years, Man Against Machine (2014), topped the country charts but failed to reach the heights of his 1990s peak. Brooks followed that with Gunslinger (2016), and in 2017 he released The Anthology Part I: The First Five Years, the first installment of a planned five-volume multimedia memoir that consisted of a book of photographs and reminiscences accompanied by five CDs. Brooks was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Country Music Hall of Fame the following year.
Brooks is a Republican, but doesn't take it too seriously. He's even expressed support for Barack Obama.
Views
In a 1999 interview with George, Brooks said, "[...]But if you're in love, you've got to follow your heart and trust that God will explain to us why we sometimes fall in love with people of the same sex." Lyrics to his song, "We Shall Be Free", features the line, "When we're free to love anyone we choose," which has been interpreted as a reference to gay relationships.
Quotations:
"Just keep taking chances and having fun."
"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers."
"You aren't wealthy until you have something money can't buy."
"True country music is honesty, sincerity, and real life to the hilt."
Membership
In 1999, Brooks began the Teammates for Kids Foundation, which provides financial aid to charities for children.
The Teammates for Kids Foundation
1999
Personality
He is spontaneous, and impulsive with his creative ideas, which he applies in an innovative manner. He has a strong independent streak, like a typical Aquarius, and can quickly become aloof. He craves solitude occasionally, which helps him to regain his sense of independence.
Physical Characteristics:
Garth Brooks height is 6ft 0in (183 cm).
Interests
Sport & Clubs
football and baseball
Music & Bands
сountry, rock
Connections
Brooks married his college sweetheart, songwriter Sandy Mahl, on May 24, 1986. The couple later had three daughters: Taylor Mayne Pearl (born 1992), August Anna (born 1994), and Allie Colleen Brooks (born 1996). Brooks and Mahl separated in March 1999, announcing their plans to divorce on October 9, 2000, and filing for divorce on November 6, 2000. The divorce became final on December 17, 2001. Brooks remarried on December 10, 2005, to country singer Trisha Yearwood.