Garth Brooks

Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, and charity director who performs country music.

Dominance

When Garth Brooks' third album, Ropin' the Wind, was released in September 1991, it had advance orders of 4 million copies and entered the pop album charts at #1, a first for a country act. It also further propelled the sales of his first two albums, such that he sometimes occupied to top two spots in the pop album chart. Nashville had never imagined that a country artist could become the biggest artist in popular music, but when both record sales and concert attendance were looked at, Garth Brooks was doing just that. Ropin' the Winds music was a melange of pop country and honky-tonk; hits included Billy Joel's "Shameless", "What She's Doing Now", and "The River". In the end it became his second-best selling album after No Fences.

Related Topics:
Ropin' the Wind - 1991 - Honky-tonk

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Brooks was in Los Angeles when the 1992 riots broke out there. To then express his desire for tolerance of all kinds, he co-wrote the gospel-country-rock hybrid "We Shall Be Free", which was the first single off his fourth album The Chase. http://www.planetgarth.com/news/article.php?cid=00229 However the song met with resistance from country radio stations and from the culturally conservative country audience, and only made it to #12 on the country chart, his worst showing to date. That said, the song is very popular amongst many of his fans and Brooks got standing ovations many times when the song was sung in concert.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - 1992 riots - The Chase - Met with resistance - Standing ovation

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The Chase, which Brooks would later describe as his album that gave the closest look into his mind, would go on to become a huge success, with its next two singles both making it back to #1. But it would not quite match the sales of his previous albums, and the tension between what Brooks wanted to do and what his core audience was willing to accept would seem to stay with him for the balance of his career, though many also comment that if Brooks hadn't have pushed the boundaries and dealt with matters the way he would have wanted to, he may have become a shadow and faded from the music scene, rather than retain respect from a very loyal fan base.

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Brooks won his first Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1992 for the album Ropin' the Wind. He was awarded the Academy of Country Music award for Entertainer of the Year for 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993, and the award for Top Male Vocalist for 1990 and 1991. As a performer and artist he has been compared to fellow country and pop/rock legends, such as the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jackson Browne, Kenny Rogers, George Strait, George Jones, and The Eagles.

Related Topics:
Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance - 1992 - Academy of Country Music - Elvis Presley - The Beatles - Jackson Browne - Kenny Rogers - George Strait - George Jones - The Eagles

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Brooks has been nicknamed Garth Vader in reference to his "invasion" of the charts and his success as an icon of the country genre. The phrase is a play on "Darth Vader". The nickname probably originated from Britain when a top DJ, Nick Barraclough, used the phrase to describe Brooks' success on his BBC radio show.

Related Topics:
Darth Vader - Britain - BBC

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His success as a world-wide star is evident. As well as tremendous success across the board in North America, Brooks enjoyed hit records and sell-out tours in many countries, including Ireland, Britain, Spain, throughout Europe, Brazil, The Far East, New Zealand, Australia, etc. In 1994, he opened London radio station, Country 1035.

Related Topics:
North America - Ireland - Britain - Spain - Europe - Brazil - The Far East - New Zealand - Australia - London - Country 1035

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During this period Garth and Sandy Brooks had three children: Taylor Mayne Pearl, born July 8, 1992; August Anna, born May 3, 1994; and Allie Colleen, born July 28, 1996.

Related Topics:
July 8 - 1992 - May 3 - 1994 - July 28 - 1996

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One of the later peaks in Brooks' fame came on August 7, 1997, when he gave a free concert in New York City's Central Park, drawing hundreds of thousands of people in a city that many would say is far removed from the country music world. Estimates of the actual crowd size varied considerably, from 250,000 to 750,000 or even higher (this is because many were outside the actual venue, which was filled, enjoying the show)http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9708/07/garth.late/; an additional 14.6 million viewers saw it live on HBO. Billy Joel and Don McLean made guest appearances. Brooks once again won the award for the ACM Entertainer of the year in 1998.

Related Topics:
August 7 - 1997 - New York City - Central Park - HBO - Billy Joel - Don McLean

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