Troyal Garth Brooks born February 7, is an American country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, [ 2 ] with success on the country music single and album charts, [ 3 ] multi-platinum recordings and record-breaking live performances , while also crossing over into the mainstream pop arena.
Troubled by conflicts between career and family, Brooks retired from recording and performing from until Following the conclusion of the residency, Brooks announced his signing with Sony Music Nashville in July His most recent album, Time Traveler , was released in November Brooks is one of the world's best-selling music artists , having sold more than million records. The couple had two children together, Kelly and Garth. All of the children were required to participate, either by singing or doing skits.
As a child, Brooks often sang in casual family settings, but his primary focus was athletics. In high school, he played 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. In , Brooks began his professional music career, singing and playing guitar in Oklahoma clubs and bars, most notably Wild Willie's Saloon in Stillwater. 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.
In , entertainment attorney Rod Phelps drove from Dallas to listen to Brooks. Phelps liked what he heard and offered to produce Brooks' first demo. With Phelps' 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.
