1985–1989: Musical beginnings In 1985, Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, most notably Wild Willie's Saloon in Stillwater. Through his elder siblings, Brooks was exposed to a wide range of music. Although he listened to some
country music, especially that of
George Jones, Brooks was most fond of rock music, citing
James Taylor,
Dan Fogelberg, and
Townes Van Zandt as major influences. Phelps continued to urge Brooks to return to Nashville, which he did. In 1987, Brooks and wife Sandy Mahl moved to Nashville, and Brooks began making contacts in the music industry.
1989–1990: Breakthrough success Garth Brooks'
eponymous first album was released in 1989 and was a chart success. It peaked at No. 2 on the
Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and reached No. 13 on the
Billboard 200 chart. Most of the album was traditionalist country, influenced in part by George Strait. The album also reached No. 3 on the
Billboard 200, and eventually became Brooks' highest-selling album, with domestic shipments of 17 million. It contained what would become Brooks'
signature song, the
blue collar anthem "
Friends in Low Places", as well as other popular singles, "
The Thunder Rolls" and "
Unanswered Prayers". Each of these songs, as well as "
Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House", reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. Similarly, Brooks was influenced by the 1970s-era rock of
Billy Joel and
Bruce Springsteen and the operatic rock of
Queen with
Freddie Mercury. In his live shows, Brooks used a wireless headset microphone to free himself to run about the stage, adding energy and
arena rock theatrics to spice up the normally staid country music approach to concerts. The band
Kiss was also one of Brooks' early musical influences, and his shows often reflect this. Despite all the cited influences, Brooks stated the energetic style of his stage persona is directly inspired by
Chris LeDoux. In late 1990, Brooks was
inducted into the
Grand Ole Opry.
1991–1993: ''Ropin' the Wind, The Chase, and Beyond the Season'' Brooks' third album, ''
Ropin' the Wind, was released in September 1991. It had advance orders of 4 million copies and entered the Billboard'' 200 at No. 1, a first for a country artist.
NBC filmed Brooks'
Reunion Arena concerts in Dallas on September 20 and 21, 1991, and premiered it as a television special two months later. After spending time in Los Angeles during the
1992 riots, Brooks co-wrote a gospel-country-rock hybrid single, "
We Shall Be Free", to express his desire for tolerance. The song became the first single off his fourth album
The Chase. The single only reached No. 12 on the
Billboard Top Country Singles chart, Brooks' first song in three years to fail to make the top 10. Nonetheless, "We Shall Be Free" peaked at No. 22 on the
Billboard Christian Songs charts through a marketing deal with Rick Hendrix Company, and earned Brooks a 1993
GLAAD Media Award. The next single released from
The Chase was "
Somewhere Other Than the Night", followed by "
Learning to Live Again", which peaked at numbers one and two on the Hot Country Songs chart, respectively. The album's final single, "
That Summer", would go on to be the most successful single from the album, reaching No. 1 in July 1993. Brooks released his first Christmas album,
Beyond the Season on August 25, 1992. The album included classics such as "White Christmas" and "Silent Night", as well as an original tune, "The Old Man's Back in Town". "Beyond the Season" was the best-selling Christmas album in 1992, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
1993–1994: In Pieces and first world tour In 1993, Brooks, who had criticized music stores selling used CDs since it led to a loss in proper
royalty payments, persuaded
Capitol Records to not ship his 1993 album,
In Pieces, to stores which engaged in this practice. This led to several
antitrust lawsuits against the record label, ending with Capitol shipping the albums to the stores. Brooks also took his World Tour to other regions throughout Europe, as well as Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. The album's lead single, "
She's Every Woman" peaked at No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot Country Songs chart; however, its follow-up single, "
The Fever" (an
Aerosmith cover) only peaked at No. 23, becoming Brooks' first country single to not chart on the top 10. However, Brooks had three additional top 10 singles from the album, including "
The Beaches of Cheyenne", which reached No. 1. Following the release of
Fresh Horses, Brooks embarked on his second
world tour. Its total attendance, approximately 5.5 million, ranks third on the all-time list of concert attendance, and its gross of over $105 million ranks it among the
highest-grossing concert tours in the 1990s. In 1997, Brooks released his seventh studio album,
Sevens. The album was originally scheduled to be released in August 1997, allowing for promotion during Brooks'
Central Park concert on HBO; however, plans went awry after a dispute within Capitol Records.
Sevens debuted at No. 1 on both the
Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts. It later became Brooks' fourth album to reach sales of 10 million copies. The album included the duet "
In Another's Eyes" with
Trisha Yearwood, which reached No. 2 on Hot Country Songs chart, and its first single, "
Longneck Bottle", with
Steve Wariner, reached No. 1. The album spawned two additional number-one singles, "
Two Pina Coladas" and "
To Make You Feel My Love" (a
Bob Dylan cover), which also was a top 10 hit on the
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and was released on the
soundtrack to the film,
Hope Floats. Brooks' first live album,
Double Live was released in 1998. Recorded at various shows over the course of his second world tour, the album contained new material not previously released, such as "Tearin' It Up (and Burnin' It Down)" and "Wild as the Wind," featuring
Trisha Yearwood. Peaking at No. 1 on both the
Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums charts,
Double Live went on to become the best-selling live album of all time, certified
21× Platinum by the
RIAA, and is the seventh-most shipped album in United States music history. In 1998, Brooks also released the first installment of
The Limited Series, a six-disc box set containing reissues of his first six studio albums. Each of the reissued albums included a bonus track not available on the original release.
1999: "Chris Gaines" and holiday album In 1999, Brooks took on the
persona of "
Chris Gaines", a fictitious
rock-and-roll musician and character for an upcoming film titled
The Lamb. In September 1999, the film's pre-release soundtrack,
Garth Brooks in...the Life of Chris Gaines (also dubbed Gaines'
Greatest Hits), was released to much public criticism. Brooks also appeared as Gaines in a television
mockumentary for the
VH1 series
Behind the Music, and as the musical guest on an episode of
Saturday Night Live, which he also hosted as himself. Brooks' promotion of the album and the film did not garner excitement, and the failure of the Gaines project was evident mere weeks after the album was released. The majority of the American public was either bewildered, or completely unreceptive to the idea of Brooks portraying a rock-and-roll musician. Sales of the album were unspectacular, at least compared with most of Brooks' previous albums, and although it made it to No. 2 on the
Billboard 200 chart, expectations had been higher and retail stores began heavily discounting their oversupply. Less-than-expected sales of the album (more than two million) brought the project to an indefinite hiatus in February 2001 and Gaines quickly faded into obscurity. Despite the less-than-spectacular response to the Gaines project, Brooks gained his first (and only)
Billboard Top 40 pop single in "
Lost in You". The album was later certified Double Platinum by the RIAA. On November 23, 1999, Brooks released his second holiday album,
Garth Brooks & the Magic of Christmas. The album peaked at No. 7 on
Billboards Top 200 and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums, making it Brooks' 10th number-one album.
2000–2004: Scarecrow and retirement As his career flourished, Brooks seemed frustrated by the conflicts between career and family. He first talked of retiring from performing in 1992, and again in 1995, but each time returned to touring. In 1999, Brooks appeared on
The Nashville Network's
Crook & Chase program, again mentioning retirement in a more serious tone. On October 26, 2000, Brooks officially announced his retirement from recording and performing. Later that evening, Capitol Records noted Brooks' achievement of selling 100 million albums in the US, celebrating at Nashville's
Gaylord Entertainment Center. Brooks was one of the first musicians to sign an exclusive music distribution deal with a single retailer (along with fellow country music artist
Ricky Van Shelton, who issued his 1998 album
Making Plans through the chain as well). Three months later, in November 2005, Brooks and Walmart issued an updated
The Limited Series compilation, a box set containing reissues of Brooks' albums, including
Double Live, and
The Lost Sessions, featuring eleven previously unreleased recordings. The box set sold more than 500,000 physical copies on its issue date. By the first week in December 2005, it had sold over 1 million physical copies. Brooks took a brief break from retirement early in 2005 to perform in various
benefit concerts. He also released a new single, "
Good Ride Cowboy", as a tribute to his late friend and country singer,
Chris LeDoux, via Walmart. In early 2006, Walmart reissued
The Lost Sessions as a single CD apart from the box set, with additional songs, including a duet with Trisha Yearwood, "Love Will Always Win", which reached the top 25 on the
Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. The couple were later nominated for a "Best Country Collaboration With Vocals"
Grammy Award. On August 18, 2007, Brooks announced plans for a new box set,
The Ultimate Hits. The new set featured two discs containing 30 classic songs, three new songs, and a DVD featuring music videos. The album's first single, "
More Than a Memory", was released on August 27, 2007. It debuted at No. 1 on the
Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, becoming the highest-debuting single in the chart's history. In November 2007, Brooks embarked on
Garth Brooks: Live in Kansas City, performing nine sold-out concerts in Kansas City at the
Sprint Center, which had opened a month prior. Originally scheduled to be only one show, the performance expanded to nine due to incredibly high demand, with all nine shows (equaling about 140,000 tickets) selling out in under two hours. The final concert of the series was simulcast to more than 300 movie theaters across the U.S. In January 2008, Brooks embarked on another incredible feat performing five sold-out shows (in less than 48 hours) at the
Staples Center in Los Angeles for a fundraiser towards the 2007 wildfires season that impacted much of Southern California's cities and counties. The first concert (of the five) titled
Garth Brooks: Live in LA was taped and broadcast repeatedly on CBS with all donations going to all of the victims and families in state of California who were impacted by the fires.
2009–2013: Las Vegas concert residency concert in 2009 In January 2009, Brooks made another one of few public appearances since his retirement, performing at the
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert in Washington, D.C.. In his three-song set, Brooks performed "We Shall Be Free", along with covers of
Don McLean's "
American Pie" and
the Isley Brothers' "
Shout". On October 15, 2009, Brooks suspended his retirement to begin
Garth at Wynn, a periodic weekend
concert residency at
Encore Las Vegas on the
Las Vegas Strip. The schedule allowed Brooks both to have the family life during the week and to continue to perform on the weekend. The financial terms of the agreement were not announced, but
Steve Wynn did disclose that he gave Brooks access to a private jet to quickly transport him between
Las Vegas and his home in
Oklahoma. Brooks' first weekend on shows in Vegas received positive reviews and was called the "antithesis of Vegas glitz and of the country singer's arena and stadium extravaganzas" by USA Today. The shows featured Brooks performing solo,
acoustic concerts, and included a
set list of songs that have influenced him. Artists covered in the show include
Simon & Garfunkel,
Bob Seger,
Billy Joel, and
Don McLean. His first performances at Encore Las Vegas coincided with his wedding anniversary, and his wife
Trisha Yearwood joined him for two songs. In 2013, influenced by the set list of the Las Vegas shows, Brooks released
Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences via Walmart, a compilation album consisting of songs Brooks attributes to the development of his unique country pop genre. The box set's albums were individually certified Platinum and the compilation received a
Billboard Music Award nomination. In a December 2013 appearance on
Good Morning America to promote the album, Brooks also surprisingly announced plans for a world tour, beginning in 2014.
2014–2015: Man Against Machine, GhostTunes, and world tour in 2014 In February 2014, Brooks announced two concerts at
Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, to be held on July 25 and 26, 2014. Due to high demand, three additional shows were added, and a total of 400,000 tickets were sold. However, due to licensing conflict,
Aiken Promotions and Croke Park management were prompted to cancel two of the five concerts after conflict among nearby residents. Brooks, committed to performing the five original concerts, refused to follow through with the request to only perform three, and all concerts were cancelled. On July 10, 2014, Brooks held a press conference where he announced his signing with
Sony Music Nashville, as well as confirming plans for a new album, world tour, the release of his music in a digital format, and remorse for the Ireland concert controversy. On September 4, 2014, Brooks released his entire studio output on digital for the first time ever. Bypassing traditional digital music service providers, Brooks opted into releasing his albums directly his own new
digital music store,
GhostTunes. On September 19, Brooks confirmed the release date for his next album, scheduled for November 11 via a press conference in Atlanta.
Man Against Machine was released via Pearl and
RCA Nashville and was available online exclusively through GhostTunes. GhostTunes closed on March 3, 2017. Brooks' digital catalogue moved to Amazon Music, who maintain exclusive rights over it. In September 2015, it was announced Brooks would reissue his album
No Fences later in the year to commemorate its 25-year release anniversary. The release would include a new version of "
Friends in Low Places", featuring
George Strait,
Jason Aldean,
Florida Georgia Line, and
Keith Urban singing along with Brooks. The album release has since been delayed due to royalty disputes. The track was later featured on his 2016 compilation album,
The Ultimate Collection.
2016–2017: Gunslinger, Christmas Together, and online streaming On October 13, 2016, Brooks released the first single, "
Baby, Let's Lay Down and Dance", from his upcoming album. The following week, Brooks released the upcoming album's title,
Gunslinger, via
Facebook Live. It was released on November 11, 2016, as a part of
The Ultimate Collection, a compilation album Brooks released through
Target. Brooks' other project for 2016 was a duet holiday album with wife
Trisha Yearwood,
Christmas Together. After years of royalty disputes and an opposition to
online music streaming, Brooks launched a streaming channel on
Sirius XM Radio. He also reached an agreement to stream his entire catalogue via
Amazon Music.
2018–present: Stadium Tour and other ventures On June 19, 2018, Brooks released a new single, "
All Day Long", the first off his 2020 album,
Fun. The release also included a
B-side, "The Road I'm On". In August 2018, Brooks announced new
live album,
Triple Live, to be released in partnership with
Ticketmaster. In August 2018, Brooks announced his
Stadium Tour, which will visit thirty North American stadiums and showcase Brooks in a football-centric environment. In promotion of the tour, Brooks performed the first
concert at the
University of Notre Dame's
football stadium in 2018 He released the second single, "
Stronger Than Me", from his upcoming 2019 album release following a performance dedicated to his wife Trisha Yearwood at the
CMA Awards. On August 14, 2021, he performed his largest ever ticketed concert at
Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., selling 90,000 tickets. The third single from his upcoming album, "
Dive Bar", a duet with
Blake Shelton, was released in June 2019. Brooks also embarked on the
Dive Bar Tour, a promotional tour in support of the single, visiting seven
dive bars throughout the United States. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Brooks and wife Trisha Yearwood performed an informal concert broadcast on
Facebook Live. The website crashed multiple times as an estimated 5.2 million streamed the broadcast. As a result of this, Brooks and Yearwood performed a concert in the same format the following week, broadcast live on
CBS, along with a donation of $1 million to relief efforts. The CBS special scored an estimated 5.6 million viewers. On July 7, Brooks and Yearwood performed a "part 2" to their previous online concert, taking song requests and again broadcast on Facebook Live. On June 27, 2020, Brooks performed a concert broadcast at 300
drive-in theaters throughout North America. Brooks released his most recent album,
Fun, on November 20, 2020. On January 20, 2021, Brooks performed "
Amazing Grace" at the
inauguration of
Joe Biden. He said his performance was an opportunity "to serve" and is a "statement of unity." On April 30, 2022, Brooks performed in Tiger Stadium on the campus of
Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When he performed his signature hit "
Callin' Baton Rouge," he became the second person, after LSU quarterback
Tommy Hodson, to excite the crowd to a degree that the noise level registered on the university's seismograph – registering as an earthquake caused by excited fans. On November 14, 2022, Brooks announced his second
concert residency,
Garth Brooks/Plus ONE, at
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in
Las Vegas. He released his most recent album,
Time Traveler, in November 2023. On November 24, 2023, Brooks headlined an
Amazon Music Live concert special,
Garth Brooks: Dive Bar Concert. The concert took place at Brooks' Nashville bar Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk. On January 9, 2025, Brooks, along with his wife
Trisha Yearwood, performed the
John Lennon song "
Imagine" at the
state funeral for former President
Jimmy Carter, at the
Washington National Cathedral in
Washington, D.C. ==The G-Men==