Garth Brooks Reacts To Beyonce’s Country Success
Garth Brooks believes that there is room for everyone in country music. When Garth celebrated his bar opening in Nashville yesterday (3/7), I asked his thoughts on Beyonce’s big entrance into country music, charting her song “Texas Hold’ Em” at number one in its first week out. It made Beyonce the first Black female artist ever to hold the top spot on the Billboard Country Songs chart.
Brooks told me, “Everybody’s welcome in country music, and that’s what I love about it. So, in our era, if you want to go back to where we were at, Kenny Rogers came over from pop, if you remember, right? He became one of the biggest country artists ever.”
He added, “Taylor Swift went from country to pop the other way and became one of the biggest artists ever.”
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Labels
Garth explained what he believes happens in musical genres, “I think it’s a music thing. The one thing we have always done is draw borders; we create them. The United States created a border, but they’re not there. But, for us to understand and feel safe, I think we have to put labels on people.”
He concluded, “So the fact that some music transfers over to other ones, and we’re all scratching our heads, is because the labels are the laws that we put there. But they weren’t originally there.”
According to The New York Post, Beyonce’s other country single, “16 Carriages,” also released on February 11, debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard country chart.
Dolly’s Approval
Country music icon and matriarch Dolly Parton congratulated Beyonce on her country music chart success.
Dolly posted a message to Instagram. The country music icon wrote, “I’m a big fan of Beyonce and very excited that she’s done a country album. So congratulations on your Billboard Hot Country number one single.”
She concluded, “Can’t wait to hear the full album! Love, Dolly.”
The post was liked almost half a million times.
Five Garth Brooks Songs That Made Him An Icon
"Callin' Baton Rouge" (1994)
Chris Weeks/Liaison/Getty Images
Garth was not the first artist to record it. In an album liner notes, he said, “I have always been a fan of ‘Baton Rouge.’ I was, still am and always will be a fan of the members of New Grass Revival, four guys well ahead of their time (even if they came out thirty years from now). ‘Baton Rouge’ was a single for them about the time my first album was released.”He continued, “This song did not even break the top thirty, and I believe it did not get a fair shot. When we recorded it, it seemed only natural to bring in the guys from New Grass Revival – Pat Flynn, Bela Fleck, John Cowan, and Sam Bush, teamed with Jerry Douglas. This was the first time the New Grass Revival had been together since their breakup over a year prior to the recording of this song. It was a very good day and an extremely proud moment, and I think this is reflected in the cut itself.”
"The Thunder Rolls" (1991)
Adele Starr/Getty ImagesGarth co-wrote this dark number-one song. He said of the song, “There is no doubt that the toughest song in the GB catalog has to be ‘The Thunder Rolls.’ This song came out fighting the day it was released. It was originally cut by Tanya Tucker in 1988 but was never put on an album. It came back to us in time for No Fences. My hat’s off to Pat Alger, a great writer and friend, and to music itself because only music could withstand what this song has gone through.”
The lyrics include, “The thunder rolls / And the lightnin’ strikes / Another love grows cold / On a sleepless night / As the storm blows on / Out of control / Deep in her heart / The thunder rolls.”
"If Tomorrow Never Comes" (1989)
Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesGarth’s second radio single and his first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. “If Tomorrow Never Comes” was named Favorite Country Single in the American Music Awards of 1991. Brooks noted that the song “will probably always be my signature song.” Garth also said that the song is about the love of a father to his daughter, not to his lover. He co-wrote the song with Kent Blazy.
"Friends In Low Places" (1990)
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesOne of the biggest songs in his career and the name of his new downtown Nashville bar. During a press conference when the bar opened, Garth said that when it came out and succeeded (four weeks at number-one) so much, nobody knew his name, but “everyone” knows “Friend In Low Places.” The song won both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards for 1990 Single of the Year.
"The Dance" (1990)
Stephen Chernin/Getty Images“The Dance” was the single released before “Friends in Low Places,” and also shot to number one on the country charts. In 1990, it was named both Song of the Year and Video of the Year by the Academy of Country Music. It was awarded the number 14 position in the CMT 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music broadcast in 2003. It also is in the number 5 position on the network’s The Greatest: 100 Greatest Music Videos special in 2004.
In 2001, after the death of Dale Earnhardt, Brooks was invited to the NASCAR Awards ceremony honoring Earnhardt to play the song as a tribute.
