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. 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 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. 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, most notably 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, 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 Nashville, 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). The couple divorced in 1999. Garth Brooks remarried on December 10, 2005, to Trisha Yearwood, a leading country singer.
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