His sister Betsy could play a variety of stringed instruments and was another influence (and later a member of his band). Brooks followed in the musical footsteps of his mother, Colleen, who appeared on the Ozark Jubilee in the 1950s and recorded briefly for Capitol Records as Colleen Carroll.
He was named for his father, Troyal, who taught him his first guitar chords and the value of hard work.
The youngest of six children, Garth Brooks was born Troyal Garth Brooks on February 7, 1962, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Garth Brooks created a seismic shift in the popularity and perception of country music when he rocketed to stardom in the early 1990s.
