Country rock singer, the renowned Garth Brooks, celebrates his 57th birthday

American renowned singer and songwriter Garth Brooks celebrated his birthday on Thursday. He’s three years shy of reaching the big sixty!

The singer is well-known in the country music circles with millions of followers on Facebook.

Troyal Garth Brooks, 57, is a popular artist who has broken several records in album sales. The Recording Industry Association of America said he was the “second best-selling solo albums artist in the United States of all time,” the first one being Elvis Presley.

Most of Brooks’ albums have reached the top 10 charts and his records have sold millions. His recognition has afforded him the ability to be the face of country music.

In the early stages of his career, the musician managed to produce a series of albums which had hits that charted in the top 10 hits of Billboard 100 or 200. He’s been quite instrumental in giving country music a new appeal by straying away from traditional country songs.

In 1962, Brooks was born to Troyal Raymond Brooks, a draftsman and Colleen Carroll, a country musician. He learned to play the guitar and banjo at an early age.

However, his interests were more in sports although he did sing at family functions. In high school, the multi-talented singer was good at football, baseball, and athletics.

He even earned a scholarship in track racing to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater where he graduated in 1984. While at the university, Brooks started singing at clubs and bars around Oklahoma.

He was eventually discovered by entertainment counsel, Rod Phelps in 1985. Phelps offered to produce Brooks’ first demo which he recorded in Nashville.

In 1989, he released his self-titled debut album, which became a hit in the US country album chart, peaking at no. 13 on the Billboard 200. The rest, as they say, is history!

The singer met his future wife, Trisha Yearwood, in the 1990s and they only started dating in the year 2000. The pair married on December 10, 2005, in a private ceremony at their home in Oklahoma.

They’ve now been married for 13 happy years!