“If God came down here with the box that had the reason for living in it, I’d like to find just 2 words: The Music. That would be neat.” -Garth Brooks

The fastest selling solo artist in music history, Garth Brooks has sold in excess of 100 million albums in just 10 years, now topping 117 million. His body of work propelled country music as a genre to the front pages of newspapers worldwide and the covers of magazines, to the point where Forbes declared on its cover, “Country Conquers Rock.” and featured Garth in a major music piece. And, he accomplished it without ever releasing a song to pop radio. The key to his record-setting success lies within the personality and talent of Garth Brooks. It has been said that through the 1990s, Garth’s only real competition was himself. He brought daring individualism and a love of music, ranging from working class blues and honky tonk to bluegrass and arena rock, to the musical table. And he had the talent to serve it up with class. His easy-going, approachable charisma was matched only by his fearless willingness to take chances and step outside the lines. He has had an unprecedented run so far, and opened the doors for many more country artists to follow.

His self-effacing demeanor is an unusual trait for a big star. As quiet and low-key as Brooks appears to be off stage, he is the complete opposite once the curtains go up and he hears his fans cheering. He’s known for flying above the crowd on a wire while singing his countless hits. Garth Brooks is the biggest selling solo artist of all-time with album sales approaching 100 million units worldwide. Had he sold all his albums in the United States it would mean that roughly 1 in 3 Americans would have one of Garth’s albums! In fact, the only ones to have sold more albums than Garth are the Beatles, but they have a 20-year head start on Mr. Brooks so he may catch up to them yet.

After the release of Scarecrow, Brooks eased into retirement, spending the next few years quietly and not resurfacing in the public eye until he had a busy 2006. Toward the end of that year, he married country singer Trisha Yearwood on December 10, but prior to that, he struck a deal with Wal-Mart to become the exclusive retailer for his back catalog. The first release under this deal was a new box set called The Limited Series that collected all the albums he released after his first box set called The Limited Series. This second Limited Series was released in time for the holiday season of 2005 and also included a new disc of outtakes called The Lost Sessions which was later released as an individual disc in 2006. The Lost Sessions featured a duet with Yearwood called “Love Will Always Win,” which climbed to 23 on the country charts in ‘06, a modest placing that was nevertheless his biggest hit since “Wrapped Up In You.”

Retirement for Brooks seems to just mean “take it at a normal star’s pace”. He spends more time with family now, but still managed to get involved in screenwriting, new album releases, and televised concert specials.

CBS will air a live portion from one of Garth Brooks‘ five upcoming concerts in Los Angeles on Jan. 25. The one-hour special, which will be taken from his third concert at the Staples Center that day, is titled Garth Brooks: Live in L.A.!. He will also perform two concerts there on Jan. 26, after selling 85,000 tickets in less than an hour. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Southern California 2008 Fire Intervention Relief Effort (FIRE). Viewers may also donate to the organization during the concert broadcast.

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