Vegas-bound: Garth Brooks bids farewell to retirement & gears to perform again

October 15, 11:19 AMCountry Music ExaminerLisa L. Rollins

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  Garth Brook is heading to Vegas, according to early buzz after the
  Oct. 15 news he's coming out of retirement. (Photo:garthbrooks.com)

Nine years ago this month, on Oct. 26, 2000, country icon Garth Brooks announced his official career retirement from recording and performing.

The news came on the heels of his Oct. 1, 2000, announcement that he and his first wife, Sandy Mahl Brooks, were officially divorcing after separating in 1999. At the time, Brooks cited a desire to be with his daughters, Taylor, August and Allie Colleen, during their growing-up years, not on the road and in the studio 24/7.

Today, from the revered Grand Ole Opry in Music City, the Tulsa, Okla., native shared in a brief press conference that he's officially back, as in no longer retired, with more details expected to come from an afternoon press conference at the Wynn Las Vegas, a casino at which its speculated Brooks will soon headline for an extended series.

"We're going to take the retirement roof off over our head, and I already feel taller," Brooks revealed during the Nashville press conference earlier today.

Meanwhile, Patsi Bale Cox, a longtime friend and author of 2009's The Garth Factor book, told Examiner.com, "Garth Brooks stayed off the road for nine essential years of his daughters' lives. They've grown into tremendous young women and I know how proud he is of them. Now he has found a way to play his music, without going out on the road. It will be a perfect solution to spending time with his two great loves: family and music."

Prior to his announcement and via his Web site--which has been jammed with traffic to the point of inaccessibility as of late--Brooks hinted that he had a "exciting" news to share. The buzz carried over to the social-networking posts of other country, including Steve Wariner, a sometime-musical collaborator with Brooks, whose Oct. 14 Facebook entry reflected further teasing by indicating, "Wondering what my friend Garth is up to? I guess we will all know tomorrow."

Wed since 2005 to country artist Trish Yearwood, Brooks ultimately revealed that, at 47, he's ready to return to the performance arena, at least in part, thanks to the fact that his youngest daughter is now 13. Still, he shared, fans shouldn't expect him to hit the studio to create a new album anytime soon. GIve him, say, five years at least, which indicates he prefers his youngest offspring to be headed to college before he ventures back to recording. (However, with Garth, one never knows, so if he does release a CD before then, well, he's just being Garth.)

Brooks' last studio album was 2001's Scarecrow, an offering that--in spite of being released a month after his retirement, with no real live-show tour support--managed to reach No. 1 on both the pop and country charts. Moreover, the KISS-loving country star holds the title as America's top-selling solo artist of the 20th century, a title previously held by Elvis, with an estimated 128 million units sold (113 million of those within the U.S.), according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

To view Brooks' 3 p.m. (Central) announcement Oct. 15 about this next career move live online, please click here.

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