Tulsa, OK · country

Garth Brooks

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The best-selling solo artist in American history — 'Friends in Low Places' and a live show that rewrote what a country concert could be.

Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and raised in Yukon. His father worked as a draftsman for an oil company, while his mother had recorded as a country singer for Capitol Records in the 1950s and appeared on Ozark Jubilee, giving him an early, direct connection to the business he would come to dominate.

He emerged in the late 1980s and became the defining commercial force in country music through the following decade, with songs including "Friends in Low Places," "The Dance," "The Thunder Rolls" and "Callin' Baton Rouge" pairing traditional country songwriting with production and arena-rock presentation.

His concerts were built around headset microphones, wireless guitars, lighting rigs and running the length of the stage, an approach imported from rock touring that reset expectations for country live shows. He is the only artist to have released nine Diamond-certified albums, and has sold more than 170 million records overall, making him the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States.

Brooks recorded briefly under the alter ego Chris Gaines, then stepped back from performing and recording between 2001 and 2005 to raise his children, during which time he sold albums through an exclusive Walmart distribution deal. He later ran a residency at the Encore Theatre in Las Vegas from 2009 to 2014 before signing with Sony Music Nashville.

A comeback world tour with his wife, Trisha Yearwood, ran from 2014 to 2017, followed by a Stadium Tour from 2019 and a further Las Vegas residency, Garth Brooks/Plus ONE, concluding in 2024. He released the album Time Traveler in 2023 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

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