Rock On The Net: Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962, in Oklahoma. Garth started making big waves in the country world just as country music was beginning to have a resurgence in the music industry (largely in part to him). Garth contributed to the popularity of country music with his combination of post-folk rock and sensitive country sounds and lyrics. Garth showed the music industry that a country artist could release a multi-million selling LP and by the late 90s, Garth sold more LPs than any other solo artist in music history and country music had become a multi-million dollar selling tool. He is the only male artist to have 2 LPs sell over 10 million copies each. In Garth's youth, country music was present in his home (his mom was a country singer), but his focus was more on athletics. Garth made it to Oklahoma State University on a javelin throwing scholarship but eventually turned to music instead.

In 1985, Garth moved to Nashville with a degree in advertising to pursue a country music career. Even though his quickly found it was an unsuccessful venture, and returned to Oklahoma, Garth returned to Nashville again in 1987 and signed with Capitol in 1988. Garth described that time: "I was scared to death," Garth now says. "When we first started, I had one thing in mind, and that was to make folks back home proud. I really felt like I was representing Yukon, Oklahoma, and more than anything I wanted them to like what I did. If I had to pick one word to describe the recording process that first time, I guess I'd say 'innocence'."

April 12: Garth's first LP, Garth Brooks, was released with the tracks "Not Counting On You," and "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)" and the #1 Country hits, "The Dance" and "If Tomorrow Never Comes." The LP was a hit in the country market, and was gradually showing some popularity on the pop LP charts. With continuing success, the LP eventually sold over 9 million copies in the U.S.

Garth's second LP, No Fences, was released and has sold over 16 million copies in the U.S., a figure usually unheard of for a country artist. Garth topped the Country Singles chart with 4 hits from the LP: his trademark tune "Friends In Low Places," the controversial "The Thunder Rolls" (which portrays spousal abuse), "Unanswered Prayers," and "Two Of A Kind (Workin' On A Full House)." Garth had now obtained superstar status and was able to sell out stadiums when on tour. Garth also changed the face of country touring with his performances by having a large-scale shows full of energy and entertainment.
Garth won 2 Country Music Awards for Music Video of the Year and the Horizon Award.
Garth Brooks was certified gold.

Garth Brooks was certified platinum.

No Fences was certified 2x platinum.

Garth won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Single ("If Tomorrow Never Comes") and was nominated for Favorite Country Male Artist.

Garth was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance - Male ("Friends In Low Places").

Garth Brooks was certified 2x platinum.

No Fences was certified 3x platinum.

No Fences was certified 4x platinum.

Garth's third LP, Ropin' The Wind, became the first country LP to debut at #1 on the pop charts and when on to spend 18 weeks at #1. Brooks continued to wrack up millions in LP sales without stepping foot in the pop singles world. Country hits included "Rodeo," "Papa Loved Mama," and the #1 hits, "Shameless" (penned by Billy Joel) and "What She's Doing Now." Sales for Ropin' The Wind exceeded 14 million copies in the U.S.

No Fences was certified 5x platinum.

Ropin' The Wind was certified 4x platinum.

Ropin' The Wind was certified 5x platinum.

During the year, Garth won 6 Billboard Music Awards for Top Album Artist, Top Country Artist, Top Country Album Artist, Top Country Artist (combined LPs & singles), Top Country Singles Artist, and Top Pop Album Artist - Male and 6 Country Music Awards for Album of the Year (No Fences), Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year ("Friends In Low Places"), Song of the Year ("The Dance"), Top Male Vocalist of the Year, and Video of the Year ("The Dance").

Garth Brooks was certified 3x platinum, No Fences was certified 6x platinum, and Ropin' The Wind was certified 6x platinum.
Garth won 3 American Music Awards for Favorite Country Male Artist, Favorite Country Single ("The Thunder Rolls"), and Favorite Country Album (No Fences) and was also nominted in the Favorite Country Album category for Ropin' The Wind.

Garth won his first Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance - Male (Ropin' The Wind) and was nominated for Best Music Video, Short Form ("The Thunder Rolls").
Garth topped the Billboard Country Singles chart for 4 weeks with "What She's Doing Now."

No Fences was certified 7x platinum and Ropin' The Wind was certified 7x platinum.

Garth won 3 more Country Music Awards for Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and a Special Achievement Award.

No Fences was certified 8x platinum.

Garth Brooks was certified 4x platinum and Ropin' The Wind was certified 8x platinum.
Garth topped the Billboard Country Singles chart for 1 week with "The River."

Garth released a holiday LP, Beyond The Season, which continued Garth's amazing record selling abilities - selling over 3 million copies in the U.S. Garth said of making the LP: "Beyond The Season hands down, without a doubt, is the most fun record that I've ever made. You always cut Christmas albums, it seems in the middle of summer for some reason to have them prepared in time for Christmas. And we did this one in June and July of '92. I remember Mark Miller the engineer, had strung Christmas lights all through the studio, put the fake snow and turned the air conditioning down. It was a blast. This album I would make every day of my life if I could. Totally no pressure, you're singing about what counts and that's the feeling of Christmas. Which in my opinion should be shared everyday of the year, instead of just one day of the year."

The release of The Chase allowed Garth to change from the typical country music formula with the addition of gospel. Garth describes the LP as his "most personal album... This is as much me as anybody has ever seen." The LP didn't sell as well as his previous LPs, possibly due to change in style, yet the LP still sold over 8 million copies. Critics argued that Garth's popularity may have peaked. The LP also contained a track supporting gay rights called "We Shall Be Free" and the hit "Somewhere Other Than The Night."
Garth scored big with television ratings with an NBC special.
No Fences was certified 9x platinum.
The Chase topped the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for 16 weeks.

Garth topped the Billboard LP chart for 7 weeks with The Chase.

Beyond The Season was certified 2x platinum and The Chase was certified 5x platinum.

Ropin' The Wind was certified 9x platinum.

Garth won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist and was nominated for Favorite Country Single ("The River").
Garth topped the Billboard Top Country Singles chart for a week with "Somewhere Other Than The Night."

Garth was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Country Vocal Performance - Male (The Chase) and Best Country Vocal Collaboration ("Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy" with Chris LeDoux).

No Fences was certified 10x platinum.
Garth was named the World's Best-selling Country Artist of the Year at the World Music Awards.

Garth topped the Billboard Top Country Singles chart for a week with "That Summer."

Garth released In Pieces and showed that he had returned to the country formula that worked well for him in the past. The LP was critically praised and sold well with sales surpassing 8 million copies in the U.S. Garth said of the LP, "In Pieces, was just time, to smile. It was time to laugh, it was time to get loud. It's definitely the most live album that we've ever cut."

Garth Brooks was certified 5x platinum.
Garth topped the Billboard Top Country Singles chart for 2 weeks with "Ain't Going Down (Till The Sun Comes Up)."
In Pieces topped the Billboard 200 Pop Albums chart for 5 weeks and Top Country Albums chart for 7 weeks.

In Pieces was certified 3x platinum.
Rolling Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" included "The Thunder Rolls" at # 87.

Garth topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Pop Artist (singles & albums), Top Pop Artist - Male (singles & albums), Top Billboard 200 Album Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album Artist - Male, Top Country Artist (singles & albums), Top Country Artist - Male (singles & albums), Top Country Album Artist, Top Country Album Artist - Male, Top Hot Country Singles & Tracks Artist, and the Top Hot Country Singles & Tracks Artist - Male.
Garth topped the Billboard Top Country Singles chart for a week with "American Honky-Tonk Bar Association."

Throughout the year Garth won an ASCAP Award for Songwriter of the Year, a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Musical Performance, and a World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Country Artist of the Year .

In Pieces was certified 4x platinum.

Garth won a American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist and was nominated for Favorite Country Album (In Pieces).

Garth was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance - Male ("Ain't Going Down (Til The Sun Comes Up)").

Garth recorded a cover tune for a Kiss tribute LP - the track, "Hard Luck Woman," became Garth's first Top 40 pop hit.
from the Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved compilation
ARC chart run: 38 - 33 - 26 - 23 - 21 - 27 - off

A collection of 10 favorite Garth singles could also be found at your local McDonalds when The Garth Brooks Collection was sold exclusively at the fast food chain for charity late in the year. Over 3 million dollars was made from Garth's collection alone.

No Fences was certified 11x platinum.

Garth Brooks was certified 6x platinum , In Pieces was certified 5x platinum, and Ropin' The Wind was certified 10x platinum.

A greatest hits compilation for retail, The Hits, was released and sold over 10 million copies.
Garth won an ASCAP Award for Songwriter of the Year and 2 Country Music Awards for Entertainer of the Year and Video of the Year ("We Shall Be Free").
The Hits topped the Billboard Country Albums chart for 15 weeks.
Garth topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Country Artist (singles & albums), the Top Country Artist - Male (singles & albums), the Top Country Album Artist, and the Top Country Album Artist - Male.

Garth won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist and 2 Country Music Awards for Video of the Year ("The Red Strokes") and the Jim Reeves Memorial Award.
The Hits topped the Billboard Pop Albums chart for 8 weeks.

No Fences was certified 13x platinum, Ropin' The Wind was certified 11x platinum, The Chase was certified 6x platinum, and The Hits was certified 5x platinum.

The Hits was certified 6x platinum.

The Hits was certified 7x platinum.

The Hits was certified 8x platinum.

Garth topped the Billboard Country Singles chart for a week with "She's Every Woman."

Garth released Fresh Horses with Garth credited for songwriting on 8 of the 10 tracks. The LP has continued to sell in true Garth-like style, selling over 6 million copies in the U.S.
Beyond The Season was certified 3x platinum.

Fresh Horses topped the Billboard Country Albums chart for 7 weeks.
Garth topped the Billboard Year-End Chart-Toppers as the Top Billboard 200 Album Artist - Male, Top Country Album (The Hits), Top Country Album Artist, and Top Country Album Artist - Male.
The Hits was the 5th biggest selling LP of the year with sales topping 3.8 million during 1995.

Garth won 3 American Music Awards for Favorite Country Album (The Hits), Favorite Country Male Artist, and Favorite Artist of the Year.

Fresh Horses was certified 3x platinum.

Garth Brooks was certified 7x platinum.
Garth topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for a week with "The Beaches Of Cheyenne."

Fresh Horses was certified 4x platinum.

The Hits was certified 9x platinum.

Garth won an American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist and was nominated for Favorite Country Album (Fresh Horses).
In Pieces was certified 6x platinum.

Garth made news when he performed for free in Central Park, NY, and the concert was aired on HBO. The crowd was the largest to ever attend a concert in the park and included special appearances by Billy Joel and Don McLean. The concert was HBO's most watched and highest rated original program.

Over 139,000 tickets were sold for 8 Garth shows in Chicago. The ticket sales, which only took 4 hours to sell, broke a sales record previously held by Genesis.
Rapper Warren G filed a lawsuit against Garth over the use of the letter 'G'. The suit contends Brooks and his company Blue Rose, Inc., and Home Box Office, Inc. infringed on Warren G's trademark of 'G' on such ventures as Brook's Central Park concert and tour, and merchandise materials on his web site. Warren G claims that the letter is trademarked as the logo for his production company, G Funk. The suit is asking for an injunction that would stop Brooks from using the trademark as well as compensatory and punitive damages.

Garth's next LP, Sevens, was released. Garth said of the LP, "I'm proud, I'm excited, I'm nervous, and it feels good to be back in the game again. This is a very personal album. I only wrote six of the songs, but there are many that are so 'me' that people I work with every day thought I wrote them."
Sevens debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 LP chart and stayed there into the new year.

SoundScan proclaimed Garth's Sevens the fourth best-selling LP of 1997 - selling over 3.4 million copies in the U.S.
Sevens was certified 5x platinum.
Garth topped the Billboard Country Singles chart with "Longneck Bottle" for 3 weeks.
Garth topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart for 5 weeks and the Country Albums chart for 13 weeks with Sevens.
Garth won a Country Music Award for Entertainer of the Year and a Billboard Music Award for Artist Achievement.

# 128 Singles Artist of the Year

Garth found himself in court defending himself in a plagiarism lawsuit for his song "Standing Outside The Fire" on the In Pieces LP. Guy Thomas, the plaintiff, accused Brooks of plagiarizing his song "Conviction Of The Heart" (which was recorded by Kenny Loggins in 1993). The following day, word came down that the court case was settled between the 2 parties with an unspecified settlement.

Garth won a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "In Another's Eyes" (with Trisha Yearwood from her LP, Songbook) and was nominated for Best Country Song (songwriter) ("In Another's Eyes" with Trisha Yearwood).
Garth donated $1 million for the construction of a children's zoo in Nashville, TN.
Garth announced at his appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show that he would donate the proceeds of one week's worth of sales for Sevens to Oprah's Angel Network (February 9th - 15th). The result: the LP sales jumped from over 46,000 a week to 125,000 and the LP returned to the Top 10. The charitable offer was extended when Garth announced he would continue for another week if the sales topped 100,000 units.

Warren G and Garth reached an agreement over the use of the letter "G" which was the subject of lawsuits between the 2 performers since October, '97. Brooks issued a statement which included: "I learned from Warren G that the letter 'G' has a special significance to him and to some members of (his) community in that it symbolizes kids and young people who are worthy of respect because of their positive contributions to the world. Now knowing how much the symbol 'G' means to Warren, I will strive to reach the standard that 'G' represents to him and to his community." The 2 also issued a joint statement which stated that since they both shared the same goals, "...there was no point to fight about a positive symbol."

Garth could heard on the soundtrack to Hope Floats with his version of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love" (which could also be found in Garth's Fresh Horses).
The box set, The Limited Series, was released and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 LP chart - where it spent 2 weeks. The LP topped the Billboard Country Albums chart for 4 weeks.
Garth talked with Wall of Sound about plans for a live LP, directing videos, and getting into films in the future. Brooks also talked about directing videos for the tracks "Anonymous" and "I Don't Have To Wonder."
No Fences was certified 14x platinum.
Garth hit the country charts with "Burnin' The Roadhouse Down" (with Steve Wariner).
Garth topped the Billboard Country Singles chart with "Two Pina Coladas" for a week.

Fresh Horses was certified 6x platinum, Garth Brooks was certified 9x platinum, In Pieces was certified 8x platinum, No Fences was certified 16x platinum, The Chase was certified 8x platinum, and Ropin' The Wind was certified 13x platinum.
Garth hit the Top 40 with "To Make You Feel My Love."

Sevens was certified 6x platinum.
Garth topped the Billboard Country Singles chart with "To Make You Feel My Love" for a week.

Ropin' The Wind was certified 14x platinum.

Garth released his first live LP, Garth Double Live - a 2-set with over 20 live tracks and 3 new tracks: "It's Your Song," "Tearin' It Up (And Burnin' It Down)," and a duet with Trisha Yearwood, "Wild As The Wind." . The live tracks span performances from '91 to '98. Brooks also appeared live on the day the LP was released, but only on closed-circuit TV at Wal-Mart stores. The hype over Brook's new live LP seemed to work - the LP was the biggest seller from "Super Tuesday" (which also saw new releases by Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Method Man, and Jewel), and broke previous first week records with sales of 1.09 million copies.
The Hits was certified 10x platinum.
Garth Double Live topped the Billboard Country Album chart for 8 weeks.

Garth's LP, Double Live, was the 7th biggest-selling LP of 1998 with 3.9 million copies sold in the U.S.
Double Live was certified 12x platinum and topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart for 5 weeks and the Billboard Country Albums chart for 8 weeks.
Garth topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Billboard 200 Album Artist - Male, Top Country Artist (singles & albums), Top Country Artist - Male (singles & albums), Top Country Album Artist, Top Country Album Artist - Male, Top Hot Country Singles & Tracks Artist, Top Hot Country Singles & Tracks Artist - Male, and with the Top Country Album (Sevens).

The awards piled up for Garth during the year with 4 Country Music Awards for Album of the Year for Sevens, Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, and Vocal Event of the Year for "In Another's Eyes" (with Trisha Yearwood), a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Musical Performer and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program (Garth Live From Central Park).

# 71 Singles Artist of the Year

Garth won 2 American Music Awards for Favorite Country Male Artist and Favorite Country Album (Sevens).

Garth was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards for Best Country Album for Sevens, Best Country Collaboration for "Where Your Road Leads" (with Trisha Yearwood), and Best Country Vocal Performance - Male for "To Make You Feel My Love."

Garth won 2 Country Music Awards for Entertainer of the Year and Artist of the Decade and was also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year, Vocal Event of the Year ("Burnin' The Roadhouse Down" (with Steve Wariner)), and Album of the Year (Double Live).

Garth temporarily traded in his cowboy hat for a baseball cap when he attended spring training with the San Diego Padres. Garth took home a Blockbuster Award for Favorite Male Artist - Country.

Garth was nominated for a Country Music Association Award for Best Entertainer. Garth hit the Top 40 with "Lost In You."

A Garth tribute LP was released: Hats Off: A Tribute To Garth Brooks featuring the Beach Boys, Chicago, Toto, Winger, and more.
Garth hit the pop Top 40 with "Lost In You" from the LP, Chris Gaines: Greatest Hits. The LP is best described as a a soundtrack for the film The Lamb - a movie that was in the works but never surfaced. Garth took on the persona of Chris Gaines in many television appearances to promote the LP.

Garth released his 2nd holiday LP, The Magic Of Christmas and hit the Top 40 with "Right Now."
Chris Gaines: Greatest Hits was certified 2x platinum.

Garth said that he might retire by the end of next year to spend more time with his family. Garth was interviewed on Crook & Chase (TNN) and talked about possibly retiring after a major event at the end of 2000.
The Magic Of Christmas was certified platinum and topped the Billboard Country Albums chart for a week.
The single "Lost In You" was certified gold.
Garth topped the Billboard Year-End Chart-Toppers as the Top Billboard 200 Album Artist - Male, Top Country Album Artist - Male, Top Country Singles Sales Artist, and with the Top Country Single Sales ("It Don't Matter To The Sun / Lost In You").
Garth was named the Top Country Artist of the 90's by Billboard magazine.

# 158 Singles Artist of the Year

Garth won 2 American Music Awards for Favorite Male Country Artist and Favorite Country Album (Double Live).
Sevens was certified 7x platinum.

Garth went back to Florida to spend 34 days spring training as 3rd baseman with the New York Mets. His baseball earnings would be donated to a children's charity.

Garth joined Melissa Etheridge, Queen Latifah, the Pet Shop Boys, k.d. lang, and George Michael to perform in Washington, DC as part of 'Equality Rocks' - a benefit concert in support of a gay and lesbian human rights campaign (Human Rights Campaign).

Garth could be heard on Steve Wariner's new LP, Faith In You on the duet "Katie Wants A Fast One."
Garth was awarded Favorite Male Artist, Country at the Blockbuster Awards.
Double Live was certified 13x platinum.

Garth took on the role of 'lifesaver' when he rescued 2 boys from a fire heading towards their home in Oklahoma.

Garth won a Radio Music Award for Artist of the Year: Country Radio. Garth also produced an LP for Tyler England.

# 140 Singles Artist of the Year

Double Live was certified 14x platinum whcih made it the best-selling live LP in history.
Garth was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song ("When You Come Back To Me Again" from Frequency).
Garth won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Musical Performer.

Garth hit the Top 10 on the Country charts with "Wild Horses."

Garth released his next LP Scarecrow. The LP featured the duet with George Jones - "Beer Run."
Garth could be seen on CBS with 3 Coast To Coast Live specials.

Scarecrow topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart for a week, the Internet Album Sales chart for a week, and the Country Albums chart for 7 weeks - selling over 460,000 copies in its 1st week of release in the US.
Scarecrow was certified 3x platinum.

Garth won a People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Musical Performer.
Garth was honored with the Award Of Merit at the American Music Awards.

Garth was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)" with George Jones).

Garth was honored with the Hitmaker Award at the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Double Live was certified 16x platinum.

Garth was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Squeeze Me In" with Trisha Yearwood).

Garth got engaged to Trisha Yearwood.

Garth performed on Shelter From The Storm: A Concert For The Gulf Coast - a benefit program shown on all the major networks simultaneously to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Garth and Trisha Yearwood were married.

Garth Double Live was certified 20x platinum, Sevens was certified 9x platinum, Scarecrow was certified 5x platinum, and The Lost Sessions was certified 2x platinum.

Garth was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals ("Love Will Always Win" with Trisha Yearwood).

Garth topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with "More Than A Memory."

Garth released a hits compilation - Ultimate Hits. The set includes 2 CDs and a DVD.

Garth topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with Ultimate Hits.

Ultimate Hits was certified 5x platinum.

Garth was honored at the Academy of Country Music Awards with the Crystal Milestone Award.

Garth was nominated for 2 American Music Awards for Favorite Country Male Artist and Favorite Country Album.

Garth topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Country Album Artist - Male.

Garth topped the Billboard Country Albums chart and Billboard 200 LP chart with Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of Influences - only available at Wal-mart when released.

• June: Ultimate Hits was certified 7x platinum.

• November 10: Garth released Man Against Machine.
• November 23: Garth was nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Country Album (Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of Influences).
• November 29: Garth topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with Man Against Machine.

• January 12: Man Against Machine was certified platinum.

• July 21: Ultimate Hits was certified 8x platinum.

• June 17: Ultimate Hits was certified 9x platinum.

• September 21: Ultimate Hits was certified 10x platinum.

• November 11: Garth teamed up with his wife Trisha Yearwood and released the holiday LP Christmas Together.
• November 11: The 10 CD box set The Ultimate Collection was released through Target.
• November 25: Garth released Gunslinger.

• December 3: Garth and Trisha Yearwood topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with Christmas Together.
• December 31: Garth topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with The Ultimate Collection.

• November 19: Garth was nominated for an American Music Award for Tour of the Year.

• December 16: Garth topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart with "Ask Me How I Know."
• December 16: Garth topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with The Anthology: Part 1, The First Five Years.

• November 1: The box set Garth Brooks: The Legacy Collection was released - a collection of Garth's LPs on vinyl.

• December 13: In Pieces was certified 9x platinum.

• February 14: No Fences was certified 18x platinum and Fresh Horses was certified 8x platinum.

• August 14: In Pieces was certified 10x platinum.

• November 20: Fun was released.

• Double Live was certified 23x platinum.

• October 3: A complaint by woman who worked with Garth was filed in California accusing him of sexual assault and battery in 2019.