A country singer Garth Brooks he has experienced ups and downs throughout his career.
Brooks rose to fame in 1989 with the release of his self-titled debut album. Since then he has received two Grammy Awards, 23 Academy of Country Music Awards, two CMT Awards, 10 CMA Awards and many more.
“It’s always fun [to hear my music on the radio] because immediately what happens is you go back to those faces in the crowd singing it, and you see joy,” Brooks said alone. Us Weekly in November 2023.
While gaining recognition for music, Brooks also faced a number of scandals. He admitted that he was cheating on his first wife, Sandy Mahlein 1989 nearly 35 years before an anonymous hairdresser accused her of sexual harassment and assault. (Brooks has denied the claims.)
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are one of country music’s most famous couples, but they’ve definitely had their ups and downs. “People think, ‘Well, two celebrities in the same business, they’re not going to last long,'” Yearwood told Us Weekly exclusively in 2018. “I was invested in this family, this is what I want from myself. […]
Keep scrolling to revisit Brooks’ ups and downs:
1986
Brooks married Mahl, and they later adopted daughters Taylor, August and Allie.
1989
Three years later, Brooks dropped his first album. At the same time, he was accused of cheating Mahl. He admitted to infidelity in a 1993 interview Barbara Walters.
“After I put on my jeans while I was on my knees begging him to take me back,” Brooks said, confirming that she and Mahl are back together.
1993
Brooks performed the “Star-Spangled Banner” during the Super Bowl, but almost canceled at the last minute. According to a former NFL manager Don Weiss‘a book The Making of the Super Bowl: The Inside Story of the World’s Greatest Sports EventBrooks wanted to release his first video for “We Shall Be Free” when it aired. The music video featured images of riots and arson, which led the TV network to ban the controversial clip from programming. Weiss reported that Brooks left the stadium less than an hour before kickoff.
Brooks and TV executives eventually reached an agreement and the country singer agreed to perform after the video aired.
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1999
Brooks created a fictitious persona named Chris Gaines and released a rock album titled Garth Brooks in… The Life of Chris Gaines. The project was originally supposed to serve as a soundtrack to a film titled The Lamb in which Brooks would play a rock star, but the film was never made. In November, Brooks was hosted Saturday Night Live like him but he acted like Gaines in his musical number without admitting that Gaines was really him.
2000
Brooks and Mahl parted ways, released a statement Billboard at that time.
“Sandy and I agree that we need a divorce,” Brooks said in a statement. “For now, we are focusing on the impact it will have on the children and how to handle it better, so that we can remain parents even if we don’t live as husband and wife.”
Later that year, Brooks began dating Trisha Yearwood. They first met in 1987 when Yearwood was married to her first husband Christopher Latham. Brooks and Yearwood married in December 2005.
2013
Brooks was accused of fraud by a former business partner Lisa Sanderson, who said he failed to pay him for 20 years. Sanderson also accused Brooks of tax fraud. He denied these allegations. During the trial, Brooks argued that the $226,000 loan was not a gift as Sanderson claimed. The jury found in favor of Brooks.
2023
Brooks and Yearwood opened their Nashville bar, called Friends in the Lowlands after his hit song, in November. Prior to the bar’s opening, Brooks made headlines for confirming the establishment planned to serve Bud Light after the brand faced criticism for partnering with a trans influencer. Dylan Mulvaney.
“Everybody has their own opinions, but involving everybody will be me. I think that diversity is the solution to the current problems and future problems,” he said in a Facebook Live video in June. “If you want to come to Friends in Low Places, come in, but come in with love. Enter with tolerance, patience. Go in with an open mind, and be cool. If you’re one of those people who just can’t do that, I get it. If you are one of those people who want to try it, come on. “
That same year, Brooks said Us that he “depended” on his wife.
“I was telling someone one day, I feel powerless because I can’t do anything without him,” he said in August. “There’s nothing I can’t do with him and nothing I can do without him. It is a blessing and a curse that you feel free and independent when he is around and very dependent when he is not. I don’t think you feel this way, but I know I do.”
2024
An unidentified woman sued Brooks for sexual assault and battery, saying in October court documents obtained by CNN said the singer raped her in 2019 while she was employed as a hairdresser.
Prior to the filing, Brooks filed her own complaint in an attempt to prevent the hairdresser from repeating her claims. In this proposal, he denied the account.
“The defendant’s allegations are not true,” the documents read. “The defendant is well aware, however, of the great, irreparable damage such false allegations can do to the plaintiff’s well-earned reputation as a decent and caring person, as well as the inevitable damage to his family and the irreparable damage to his career and livelihood. would be the result if he accepted his threat to ‘make public’ his false accusation.”
Brooks did not immediately respond to the charge. Us reached the comment.
If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, please get in touch National Sexual Assault Number at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.