In 1989, Brooks released his self-titled first album, produced by Allen Reynolds, who encouraged Brooks to use a more relaxed, natural singing style.

However, two years later, after marrying his first wife, Sandy Mahl, Brooks returned to Nashville and, in 1988, signed with Capitol Records. His first trip to Nashville, in 1985, ended in disappointment, and he returned to Oklahoma.

That combination of bedrock country, sensitive songwriting, and theatrical rock would come together when Brooks hit the world’s stage.īrooks started performing while attending Oklahoma State University. Growing up in a music-loving family, Brooks heard the traditional country music of Merle Haggard and George Jones from his father and mother the introspective singer-songwriter works of James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg from his siblings and the arena-rock dynamics of bands such as Queen and Kiss from his friends. His sister Betsy could play a variety of stringed instruments and was another influence (and later a member of his band). Brooks followed in the musical footsteps of his mother, Colleen, who appeared on the Ozark Jubilee in the 1950s and recorded briefly for Capitol Records as Colleen Carroll. He was named for his father, Troyal, who taught him his first guitar chords and the value of hard work. The youngest of six children, Garth Brooks was born Troyal Garth Brooks on February 7, 1962, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Garth Brooks created a seismic shift in the popularity and perception of country music when he rocketed to stardom in the early 1990s.

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