Happy Birthday, Mr. Brooks: Snakkle Celebrates Garth Brooks’s 50th Birthday with a Look Back at His Career!

As a child, Garth Brooks often competed in "talent shows" with his brothers and sisters. By the time he reached high school, he continued to sing at casual family gatherings, but his main focus was athletics. Garth was a track scholarship student at Oklahoma State University, where he competed in the javelin.

Garth Brooks's second album, No Fences, is not only his best selling album to date but also one of the best selling and most revered country albums of all time. The album scored him nine CMA, ACM, and AMA awards, including two for Entertainer of the Year.

Garth Brooks names Kiss as one of the biggest influences in his early musical life and is a huge fan of their theatrical stage shows. In 1994, Brooks appeared on the collaborative album Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved, a compilation of Kiss covers by various artists. Brooks was the only country singer on the album and his was the only track that members of the band played on. Brooks and Kiss later teamed up to perform "Hard Luck Woman" live on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

In 1993, Garth Brooks was set to perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Much to the dismay of event organizers, he threatened to walk off the stage and refuse to sing if NBC didn’t agree to air his latest music video for the song "We Shall Be Free." NBC eventually caved, and from then on, all performers are required to pre-record their performance of the anthem.

Garth Brooks performed his smash hit "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House" at the 1998 Billboad Music Awards. That year alone, he won six awards, including Country Artist, Country Album, and overall Male Album of the Year. He has the most Billboard awards of any country artist and holds the fifth spot overall with 25.

In 1999, Garth Brooks's production company, Red Strokes Entertainment, began development on a movie starring Brooks as a troubled musician. To promote the film, Brooks recorded an album under the name Chris Gaines. The film couldn’t garner any real attention, and eventually the plans were scrapped, leaving Garth with a CD under an assumed identity and the majority of his fans seriously confused.

In February 2000, Garth Brooks spent 34 days with the New York Mets at training camp in Florida. He was there not with hopes of actually earning a roster spot but to raise money for his Touch 'Em All Foundation. He spent the previous year's spring training with the San Diego Padres.

In December 2005, Garth Brooks married his longtime friend and fellow country music star Trisha Yearwood. Their collaborations have garnered them five Grammy nominations, with one win in 1998 for the song "In Another's Eyes."

Garth Brooks made a rare public appearance in January 2009 at the celebration concert for then-President-elect Barack Obama at the Lincoln Memorial. He performed a medley of "American Pie," "Shout," and his own hit "We Shall Be Free." The impressive list of performers and guests included Jack Black, Jon Bon Jovi, Bono, Steve Carell, Tom Hanks, Beyoncé, and many more.

In June 2011, Garth Brooks was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Brooks was inducted by fellow artist and songwriter Billy Joel. The two performed Brooks's hit "Shameless," which, incidentally, was written by Joel. Several months later, he was inducted, alongside Alan Jackson, into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as well.