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Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962), best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at #2 in the US country album chart while climbing to #13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart. Brooks's integration of rock elements into his recordings and live performances has earned him immense popularity. This progressive approach allowed him to dominate the country single and album charts while quickly crossing over into the mainstream pop arena, exposing country music to a larger audience.

Brooks has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the 1990s. Garth Brooks still continues to sell well and according to Nielsen Soundscan, his album sales up to 68,363,000 (until the end of 2009), which makes him the best-selling albums artist in the United States in the SoundScan era (since 1991), a title held since 1991, well over 7 million ahead of his nearest rival, The Beatles. Furthermore, according to RIAA he is the best-selling solo albums artist in the United States of all time (overall is second to the Beatles) with 128 million units sold. Brooks has released six albums that achieved diamond status in the United States, those being: Garth Brooks (10× platinum), No Fences (17× platinum), Ropin' the Wind (14× platinum), The Hits (10× platinum), Sevens (10× platinum) and Double Live (21× platinum). Since 1989, Brooks has released 19 records in all, which include; 9 studio albums, 1 live album, 4 compilation albums, 3 Christmas albums and 2 box sets, along with 77 singles.

Troubled by conflicts between career and family, Brooks officially retired from recording and performing from 2001 until 2009. During this time he sold millions of albums through an exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart and has sporadically released new singles. In 2005, Brooks started a partial comeback, and has since given several performances and released two compilation albums.

On October 15, 2009, Garth Brooks announced the end of his retirement. In December 2009, he began a 5 year concert deal with the Encore Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He continues to deny any plans to tour or record new music for another 5 years

Early life

Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was the youngest child of Troyal Raymond Brooks, a draftsman for an oil company, and Colleen Carroll, a 1950s-era country singer who recorded on the Capitol Records label and appeared on Ozark Jubilee.[7][7][8][9] This was the second marriage for each of his parents, giving Garth four older half-siblings (Jim, Jerry, Mike, and Betsy). The couple had two children together, Kelly and Garth.At their home in Yukon, Oklahoma, the family hosted weekly talent nights. All of the children were required to participate, either by singing or doing skits. Brooks learned to play both the guitar and banjo.

As a child, he often sang in casual family settings but his primary focus was athletics. In high school, he played American football and baseball and ran track and field. He received a track scholarship to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, where he competed in the javelin.[9][13] Brooks graduated in 1984 with a degree in advertising.

Later that year, Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, particularly the Tumbleweed 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. After hearing Unwound, George Strait's debut single, in 1981, Brooks decided that he was more interested in playing country music.

In 1985, noted entertainment attorney Rod Phelps drove from Dallas to listen to Brooks. Phelps liked what he heard and offered to produce Garth's first demo. With Phelps's encouragement, including a list of Phelps' contacts in Nashville and some of his credit cards, Brooks traveled to Nashville to pursue a recording contract; he returned to Oklahoma within 24 hours. Phelps continued to urge Brooks to return to Naswhville, which he did. In 1986, Brooks married Sandy Mahl, whom he had met while working as a bouncer. In 1987, the couple moved to Nashville, and Brooks began making contacts in the music industry. The couple later had three daughters: Taylor Mayne Pearl (born 1992), August Anna (born 1994) and Allie Colleen (born 1996).