Celebrity Dish: Serving up the gossip you should know!
I suppose that if sports giants like Michael Jordan and Brett Favre can do it, so can country music superstars. Both of those sports legends left their respective games at the height of their careers, choosing to go out in a proverbial blaze of glory rather than watch their incomparable abilities fade away. And in fact, Jordan chose to pursue another game entirely, with mixed reviews. In the end, though, both men made a much-heralded return to their beloved sports, to the delight of fans and sportscasters alike. Maybe they weren’t quite as eager to give up the ghost as they thought they were.
Neither is Garth Brooks, apparently. The singer who more or less defined country music in the 1990s announced last week that he was coming out of his self-imposed retirement. He stopped touring in 1998 and effectively put his career on hold in 2001. His divorce from Sandy Mahl was finalized, and he said he left the music industry to spend more time with his three daughters.
And that is what has done during the last eight years. He’s concentrated on raising his children in Oklahoma with wife (and fellow country music singer) Trisha Yearwood, who he married in 2006.
The announcement of his return was made in Nashville, which will undoubtedly be delighted to have one of its most popular stars making music again. (On a personal note, I grew up near Nashville. I can attest firsthand to the mourning that happened when Brooks decided to retire.) But he’s not exactly returning to Music City. In fact, he’s bringing his sound to Sin City.
In the grand tradition of Cher, Bette Midler, Elton John and Celine Dion, Brooks now has a standing engagement for 16 weekends a year at the Wynn Las Vegas resort Encore Theater for the next five years. Those gigs start Dec. 11.
Again, his daughters were a major concern in this deal. Steve Wynn, the owner of the resort, had to throw in a private plane to get Brooks to and from Las Vegas on the weekends so that he could be around to take them to school during the week. But when you’ve sold more than 100 million albums, you can make requests like that. And his friends clearly aren’t in low places.
Welcome back, Garth. It’s good to see you again.
Krista Richmond is a journalist and pop culture enthusiast. Have a question, suggestion or hot gossip tip? Send them to her at krista@killerfilm.com.
