Garth Brooks is back on tour for the first time in 14 years. With his newest album, Man Against Machine , going certified platinum, and concert ticket sales breaking records, he has obviously made a successful comeback. As thrilled as he is to be back on top of his game, he told People he has not a single regret for taking time off to raise his girls.
“People said, ‘How could you walk away from music?’ But being a dad – there’s nothing that can touch that.”
After his divorce from his first wife — the mother of their three daughters — and the death of his mother in 1999, he walked away from music to focus on being a dad. He said it took time to reconnect with them.
“I’d just stare at them. I knew their sweet faces and their dispositions. But I didn’t know who they were.”
He got the hang of it and soon found himself happily packing lunches, attending school plays, and being a soccer dad. However, as the Huffington Post reported last year, he told Access Hollywood his days as a stay-at-home-dad could be overwhelming.
“The day starts every day at 6 a.m. They’re not up yet because you got to get up and you gotta make their breakfast so you go in and wake them up at 6:15… Then you go back and roust them up again. Now all of a sudden it’s getting close to 7 (and) they don’t wanna get up… they don’t wanna go to school.”
Brooks lamented he would never wish divorce on anyone, but having three parents to handle three girls worked well for his busy family. He also confessed that some humbling moments come with raising three daughters.
“You finally get ’em up and get all their lunches packed and put them in the van and take them off to school, but oh my God somebody forgot their bloomers for cheerleading practice… so you’re walking across the gym floor holding a pair of bloomers.”
His daughters, Taylor, August, and Allie, are now 22, 20, and 18. The 53-year-old country star is now experiencing the dreaded empty nest syndrome. He explained, now that the young ladies are out on their own, he knows he has less control. He is relying on lots of prayer, his return to music, and the “love of his life,” Trisha Yearwood, to get through it.
Garth Brooks is performing at Academy of Country Music Awards on April 19, where he is also a nominee for Entertainer of the Year . The 50th annual ACM Awards airs at 7 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on CBS.
[Image by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images]