1962-present
Garth Brooks News: Country Singer Denies Sexual Assault Accusations
Country music star Garth Brooks has been accused of rape and sexual assault in a new lawsuit from a former employee. The anonymous womanidentified only as Jane Roeworked as Brooks’ hair and makeup stylist starting in 2017.
In the lawsuitfiled in California on October 3she states Brooks subjected her to unwanted sexual advances several times in 2019 and raped her in a Los Angeles hotel room that year. The woman also accuses Brooks of attempting to cover up the alleged harassment by deleting texts from her phone and filing a preemptive legal complaint against her. In a statement also from October 3the 62-year-old musician admitted to anonymously filing the complaint in September but denied the allegations of abuse against him.
“For the last two monthsI have been hassled to no end with threatsliesand tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars,” Brooks said. “Hush moneyno matter how much or how littleis still hush money. In my mindthat means I am admitting to behavior I am incapable of—ugly acts no human should ever do to another.”
Who Is Garth Brooks?
Garth Brooks is a Grammy-winning country music star known the songs “Friends in Low Places,” “The Dance,” and “If Tomorrow Never Comes.” His third studio effortRopin’ the Windwas the first country album to debut at No. 1 on the mainstream Billboard 200 chart. He is the only artist in history to have won seven CMA Entertainer of the Year awards and to have eight diamond-certified albumshaving sold at least 10 million copies each.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Troyal Garth Brooks
BORN: February 71962
BIRTHPLACE: TulsaOklahoma
SPOUSES: Sandy Mahl (1986-2001) and Trisha Yearwood (2005-present)
CHILDREN: TaylorAugustand Allie
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Early Life
Troyal Garth Brooksbetter known as Garth Brookswas born in TulsaOklahomaon February 71962. His fatherTroyal Raymond Brooks Jr.worked for an oil companyand his motherColleen McElroy Carrollwas a country singer. He grew up with four older half-siblings—JimJerryMikeand Betsy—as well as his older sister Kelly. His brother Mike taught Garth how to play guitarspawning his path to becoming a musician.
Music Career: Hit Songs and Albums
To startBrooks sang in bars and clubs while attending Oklahoma State University. In 1987he moved to NashvilleTennesseebut struggled to get his career off the ground. He worked at a local boot store to make ends meet. With help from music manager Bob DoyleBrooks signed to Capitol Records in 1988 and released his self-titled first album the following year. His early hits include “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and “The Dance.”
Although sales for the singer’s first albumGarth Brooks (1989)were goodit would have been hard to predict the amazing success of later releases. His second effortNo Fencesreleased in August 1990 and spent 23 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart thanks to his bar anthem “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls,” among other hits. Within a yearNo Fences had sold more than 4 million copies before becoming Brooks’ first diamond-certified album in May 1993. According to the most recent sales datafrom February 2020the album has now sold the equivalent of 18 million copies.
His third albumRopin’ the Windraked in a record-breaking four million orders before its release in September 1991 and became the first album by a country singer to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. His 1998 releaseGarth Brooks Double Livesold over one million copies in its first week of salesbreaking the previous record.
The singer-songwriter’s other hit albums have included The Chase (1992)In Pieces (1993)Fresh Horses (1995)Sevens (1997)and Scarecrow (2001). Brooks’ live concerts have also been extremely successful. An August 71997concert in New York City’s Central Park drew an estimated 850,000 to 1.2 million people.
First Las Vegas Residency and Tours
In 2009Brooks accepted a three-year stint for a string of performances at the Wynn Las Vegas. The intimate performances Brooks gave—his set only featured himself and his guitaras he shared personal life experiences and the importance of his family—resonated with audiences and proved to be a huge success for the artist. The country star played sold-out shows throughout the entirety of his residency. In 2011he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fameand the following yearhe became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. He was inducted by George StraitJames Taylorand Bob Seger.
For his final show at the Wynn Las Vegas in November 2013Brooks partnered with CBS for a live broadcast event. The TV special received 9.33 million viewers and claimed the No. 1 spot in the ratings for the night. Years laterthe singer inked a record contract with Sony Music Nashville for his first studio album since 2001’s Scarecrow. The albumMan Against Machinecame out in November 2014.
In late 2016Brooks debuted two new projects: his 10th studio albumGunslingeras well as a collaboration with his wife Trisha Yearwood on a collection of holiday standardsChristmas Together. The couple hit the road on the Garth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood. The tour lasted three and a half years and sold over 6.3 million ticketsmaking it one of the biggest North American tour’s in history.
In March 2019Brooks returned to the road on The Garth Brooks Stadium Tour and was later honored with the Entertainer of the Year Award at the Country Music Association Awards for a record seventh time. That yearhe also received iHeart Radio’s inaugural Artist of the Decade Award at the iHeart Radio Awards.
Newest Albums
Just after receiving Billboard’s Music Icon AwardBrooks released his long awaited album Fun in November 2020 after experiencing production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His most recent albumTime Travelercame out in November 2023. The singer’s 14th studio album was sold as part of a seven-disc boxed set exclusively at Bass Pro Shops.
After completing his three-and-a-half year Stadium TourBrooks returned to Las Vegas to begin a Plus One residency at The Colosseum in Caesar’s Palace in May 2023. The residency is expected to conclude in March 2025.
A&E Special Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On
A&E Network’s genre-definingEmmy Award–winning Biography franchise released the two-part definitive documentary highlighting the prolific career of Brooksthe best-selling solo artist of all time. Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On premiered over two consecutive nights in early December 2019. The documentary offered an intimate look into Brooks’ life as a musicianfatherand man as well as the moments that have defined his decade-spanning career and essential hit songs.
Garth Brooks: The Road I’m On chronicled Brooks’ life and career from his early days playing gigs at college bars in Oklahoma and his first unsuccessful trip to Nashville to his record-breaking world tours and balancing family life with global fame. The special highlighted the deeply personal journey and profound legacy of a genre-defining musical figure for the first time. In addition to exclusive interviews with Brooks as he told his life story for the first timethe documentary featured never-before-seen interviews with Trisha YearwoodBilly JoelKeith UrbanGeorge StraitJames Taylorfriend and original bandmate Ty Englandsongwriter Tony Arataas well as many others from Brooks’ personal and musical family. The documentary also showcased unprecedented access to the seven-time CMA Entertainer of the Year’s current record-setting stadium tour and delved into the stories behind his then-eight diamond-certified albums.
“If I was ever going to do a documentary on my life and musicI wanted A&E to do it,” Brooks said. “They have interviewed all of the people who would know what the true stories are so no matter how this turns outI can’t say it isn’t the truth.”
Wife Trisha Yearwood and Children
Brooks and country singer Trisha Yearwood first crossed paths during a demo recording in 1987. A decade laterthe pair collaborated on the 1997 song “In Another’s Eyes,” which later earned them a Grammy. Brooks and Yearwood wen public with their romance in June 2002 when they made their red carpet debut at the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The couple got engaged in May 2005 and married seven months later in December.
Brooks was previously married to songwriter Sandy Mahlwith whom he shares three children: TaylorAugustand Allie. The couple separated in 1999nearly 10 years after their 1986 wedding. At the end of 2000Brooks announced he was taking a break from music to spend more time with his daughters. His divorce from Mahl was finalized the following year.
Quotes
- I think my gift truly is I’m an average guy. What I likean average guy likes. It’s that simple. The music that I loveI find that most guys around me lovetoo.
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Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse Universitywhere she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new storyyou can find her readinghitting the gymor watching too much TV.
