<artist name="Garth Brooks" id="1003704"/> Announces Retirement

Garth Brooks Announces Retirement

10/26/2000 1:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(10/26/00, 2 p.m. ET) - Garth Brooks announced his retirement earlier today (October 26) in Nashville, on the eve of the celebration honoring him for one of the biggest milestones in music history.

"I can only be as honest as I can be," he said at a press conference. "I don't know how else to say it. I am here to announce my retirement. It is a thing that I feel good about. I feel that what I am trading it for is more important at this point in my life--which I never thought that I would find anything that would be that important--your relationship to your children is to anybody who is a parent out there. So, today we start a new life."

Brooks will be honored at a black-tie event this evening (October26) in Nashville for his accomplishment as the first solo artist in RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) history to reach sales of 100 million units.

In making the announcement, Brooks confirmed plans to record another album but stressed that he would prefer it not be referred to as "the last album" or a "farewell album" and instead wanted the project to stand alone on artistic merit. A tentative release date for the album is Mother's Day (May 13) or Father's Day (June 17) 2001.

While some have doubted Brooks' intention of leaving the music business, the singer clarified what the term "retirement" means to him. "I think what retirement means for me is country music as you know Garth Brooks -- touring, the artist. One of the things that is still left undone for me that I'd love to do is the duet album with Ms. [Trisha] Yearwood, but will that happen? That's something that, you know, you'll have to think about."

While the door for Brooks to resume his career will always be open, the singer said that possibility is highly unlikely. "If you take time off and then try and jump back in and do it again, you might think you're doing as good as you were, but, truth is, you're not, and you owe much more to music than that, so my thing that I'm really looking forward to do after this coming year is over is writing, especially screen play writing -- that is, for movies -- but that's stuff that I can do after I drop my kids off at school and I can work at it at home and do my stuff there," said Brooks. "The stuff that I'm pulling away from is the stuff that takes me away from home."

In conjunction with the 10-year-anniversary of Brooks album No Fences, Capitol Records will release "Wild Horses" off of the project as a single to radio.

-- Jennifer Gerlock and Margy Holland, Nashville

Got news tips, comments, or questions? Send them to newstips@launch.com.