Remember when Garth Brooks was worried that people might not come to his shows after he took several years off to stay at home with his daughters?And then he was concerned that no one would care about his music because he hadn’t made any in so long?
But people did go to his shows and buy his music, and not just the new releases.
There was a 13-year gap between his current album, "Man Against Machine," and Brooks' last studio album, 2001's "Scarecrow."
Some young country music fans are just learning about the performer who reinvented the country music wagon wheel. They were buying show tickets and they were buying the music, including older albums that longtime Brooks fans bought when they were first released.
It was a sweet surprise when, during his Sept. 23 show in Fresno, California, Brooks' wife, Trisha Yearwood, stepped onto the stage to announce that her husband had achieved his seventh Diamond Award, the only artist in the history of country music to achieve the milestone.
When an artist sells 500,000 copies of an album, it is certified gold by the RIAA. At 1 million sales, the album is certified platinum. At 10 million copies sold, the album is certified diamond. Neither top-selling performers George Strait nor Alan Jackson have earned a Diamond Award, although both have multiple p platinum awards. Pop music icons like Billy Joel and Madonna have two Diamond Awards each. The Beatles have six Diamonds.
