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Garth Brooks has set a new standard for country music success. In an unprecedented feat for a country artist, Garth's third album, Ropin' the Wind, reached the number-one spot on Billboard's pop music charts the first week of its release. Only two previous country performers have ever reached the top spot on the pop charts--Johnny Cash in 1969 and Kenny Rogers in 1980, and they did so only after weeks of steady sales. Brook's album, which was released in September 1991, started out at the top.

To the pop music industry, this brash country singer seemed to emerge from nowhere to capture the fancy of the American public. A native Oklahoman, Brooks was the sixth and last child to join the clan of Troyal and Coleen Brooks. The singer retains strong family ties to this day: his half-sister Betsy Smittle used to play bass in his band, Stillwater. His brother Kelly travels with him as a tour accountant.

Though born into a musical family (his mother recorded for Captiol Records and appeared on Ozark Jubilee in the 1950s), Brooks didn't pick up a guitar until he was a junior in high school. After graduation, he attended Oklahoma State University on an athletic scholarship as a javelin thrower.

While in college, Brooks started performing in nightclubs. At first he performed solo, offering his interpretation of songs by such personal heroes as James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg. Before long, he joined a band, mixing tunes by George Strait and Merle Haggard with those of the Georgia Satellites, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, and other rock bands.

Following a discouraging 1985 trip to Nashville, Brooks returned two years later, this time accompanied by his bride of one year, Sandy Mahl. Within days of his arrival, he was introduced to Bob Doyle, an executive as ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, which is a performing rights agency). Doyle's faith in Brook's talent let him to leave ASCAP and form his own music publishing company, Major Bob Music, with Garth as his first client. Just eight months after Garth arrived in Nashville, he signed a recording contract with Capitol Records.

Garth and Sandy

When Captiol introduced him to Allen Reynolds, a record producer who had also worked with Kathy Mattea, Don Williams, and Crystal Gayle, Garth's approach to music began to take shape. Reynolds produced Brook's 1989 debut album, Garth Brooks, and would later produce No Fences and Ropin' the Wind. It was Reynolds who suggested that Brooks stop singing ballads in the full-voiced, operatic style associated with Gary Morris or Lee Greenwood. The producer encouraged Brooks to relax and sing in a gentler, more natural manner. Reynold's coaching later proved to be a key to Brooks's success in conveying the tender emotion of the ballads "If Tomorrow Never Comes" and "The Dance." Both songs have since become signature hits for the young entertainer. Garth's debut album also included the hits "Not Counting You" and "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)," the latter about a rodeo cowboy, a recurring subject in Brooks's songs. Of the four hits from the first album, Brooks wrote or cowrote all but "The Dance." He has since continued to write about half of the songs on his albums.

Garth Brooks sold 500,000 copies in its first year. Garth received the news of that milestone on May 24, 1990, the fourth anniversary of his marriage. By then, "The Dance" was a major hit, and the album sold another half-million copies in the month of June. Garth received his first Gold Record in June during Fan Fair in Nashville, TN.

Garth shows off his first gold album
with help from Glenda Paradee

The sales of Brooks's albums have proliferated ever since. His second album, No Fences, sold 700,000 copies the first ten days it was in stores, thanks to the blockbuster hit "Friends in Low Places." The first week of October 1990, both the first and second album crossed the million mark in sales. That same week, Brooks reached two more milestones: He became the 65th member of the Grand Old Opry, and he was the most-nominated artist at the 1990 Country Music Association Awards.

Of those five nominations, Brooks won the award for video of the year for "The Dance" and the coveted Horizon Award, given to the artist who achieved the greatest career strides during the previous 12 months.

Since then, Brooks has become country music's biggest seller as well as a major award winner. The No Fences collection remained the number-one country album until the fall of 1991, when it slipped to number two as Ropin' the Wind took the top spot. By the start of 1992, his debut album had sold more than four million, while both No Fences and Ropin' the Wind topped the six million mark. The leading music industry trade magazines, Billboard and Radio & Records, selected Brooks as male country artist of the year. He walked away with six Academy of Country Music Awards in April 1991 and four Country Music Association awards the following October, claiming the prestigious Entertainer of the Year honors at both pageants. In 1992, he won American Music awards for best male country artist, best country single for "The Thunder Rolls," and best country album for No Fences. And at the '92 Grammy Awards, Ropin' the Wind picked up an award for best country vocal performance.

Garth shows off his quadruple platinum albums with Glenda Paradee of Thanks for the Music at the 1991 Fan Fair.

So many more awards since then too.

A lively, fiercely energetic concert performer, Brooks promises to keep taking chances and coming up with surprises. He also plans to be around awhile. "A big word for me is seven letters, something George Jones and George Strait have been able to do---sustain," he said backstage after being named Entertainer of the Year by the CMA. "I want to be here a long time and not be a flash in the pan."

[Garth Brooks Double Live] [Celebrity Spotlight Index]