Troyal Garth Brooks, known professionally as
Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American
country music artist. His eponymous first album was released in 1989; it peaked at #2 in the US country album chart and reached #13 on the Billboard 200 pop album chart. Brooks's integration of
rock elements into his recordings and live performances made him very popular and allowed him to dominate the country single and country album charts and quickly crossed 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. The
RIAA has certified his recordings at a combined (128×
platinum), denoting roughly 113 million U.S. shipments.
[www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS] He is also listed as the best-selling artist of the
Nielsen Soundscan era (from 1991 onwards), with approximately 67,774,000 albums sold (as of April 5, 2008).
[www.roadrunnerrecords.com/Blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=94296] He is second only to
The Beatles in the United States.
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).
[[www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Garth%20Brooks&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50 RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Garth Brooks] June 2, 2008]
Troubled by conflicts between career and family, in 2001 Brooks officially retired from recording and performing.
During this time he sold millions of albums through an exclusive distribution deal with
Wal-Mart and has sporadically released new singles.
