Garth Brooks peaced out of the country music scene in 2001, at which point he turned down millions in album and ticket sales so he could focus on his family. Now fully back in the swing of touring, he has no regrets about his decision to leave music. "It was like leaving Maui to go to Honolulu," he told The Today Show this week. "I mean, I don't know how to say it. It was like, 'I love to play music, but right now, I gotta tell ya, there's nothing better than this.' And those are days you can't get back."
Brooks, a 52-year-old with three kids from his first marriage, was basically a hovering dad for a solid eight years until he announced his return to music in 2009.
"It's cool because, I will tell you, I was lucky enough to be at every practice, every rehearsal, every school function," he said (via The Boot). "My kids will go, 'Oh my god, he was at EVERY practice,' you know, all that stuff. I think the way they see it and the way I see it's probably different, but I'm hoping after I'm gone, you know, from this world, hopefully then they'll go, 'Oh, I get it. Dad was at everything.'"
Now, Brooks is in the midst of a gigantic comeback tour with wife, Trisha Yearwood.
"The greatest gift I've ever received was the time off to raise our kids," he said. "But I've gotta tell you, very second, the [next greatest] gift I've received was the chance to do it all again. We're having a great time."
The couple is currently in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a string of shows before heading to Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Denver (with several more cities likely to be announced in the coming months). Check out ticket information here, and get a glimpse of the tour below:
