Random Weird AF Facts About Garth Brooks, Biggest Country Star Of '90s (21 items)

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  (#2) Garth Is The Michael Jordan Of Country Music

  Not because he still has his hoop earring in, but because at the height of his success Garth Brooks took a break to play professional baseball for both the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets. In 1999 he was drafted to San Diego's amateur team where he went 1-for-22, an average of .045, and played left field.

  Following his season playing for San Diego's AAA team he moved onto the Giants, then he finally bowed out of the game after playing with the Kansas City Royals minor league team where he hit an infield single off the Mariners' Mike Myers. Brooks later said of the hit, "I was even more surprised than the pitcher." 
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  (#3) Hubris Interrupted His Acting Career

  Brooks began his acting career in earnest when he appeared as an abusive husband in the video for "The Thunder Rolls," in 1990. Although he would go on to play the straight man to Will Ferrell in a memorable SNL sketch, Brooks' filmography is nothing to brag about. It could have been much more illustrious, however, if he'd kept his ego in check. A lawsuit filed by his business partner, Lisa Sanderson, in 2013 claims that Brooks tanked what could have been multiple lucrative deals by acting like a crazy person.

  First, he refused to star in Twister because the tornado was the real star, and then he turned down a role in Saving Private Ryan because he didn't want to appear alongside Tom Hanks, an actor he admired, because he believed no one would want to watch the movie. 
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  (#10) He's Not Into The Resale Market

  If you grew up in the '90s and very early 2000s then you more than likely bought all, if not most, of your music from a used record bin at your local shop. If you ever bought a used Garth Brooks album then he considered you a personal enemy that needed to be stopped at all costs. Sorry, but that's just how G-Nasty rolls.

  In the very early '90s Brooks promised to withhold new music from retailers that bought and sold used music because they hampered with an artist's ability to keep track of their sales and get all of those sweet sweet royalties. Brooks backed down when he was faced with an antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission. 
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  (#19) At One Point He Just Started Turning Down Awards

  By 1996 Garth Brooks had has his share of awards and accolades, so at the 1996 American Music Awards he turned down the Favorite Artist of the Year award when it was awarded to him during the show. In a post-show interview he told reporters that he felt Hootie and the Blowfish actually deserved to win.

  "It wasn't fair for me to walk away with that award," Brooks told reporters. "Maybe a year or two ago when we had a really good year. But I've been around [the country] talking to retailers . . . and every one of them credits Hootie [& the Blowfish] for keeping them alive in 1995 and I couldn't agree more. So I thought that's who shoulda won." 
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  (#14) Mo Betta Blues

  You know those really dumb cool shirts that Garth Brooks wore throughout the 90s that looked like a giant checker board? Well it turns out that they're made by the "Mo Betta" company and in the '90s they hit a boom thanks to the singer wearing them constantly. The guy that runs the Mo Betta company was absolutely tickled when Brooks made his shirts into a thing, and he told The Oklahoman, "The biggest thing was Garth Brooks ... before Garth we just made shirts for the cowboy - he took us to another level; people that just want to wear them, like doctors." Although to be fair if you ever see a doctor wearing a Mo Betta shirt you need to rethink your insurance plan. 
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  (#13) LGarthTBQ

  Even if Garth Brooks eats like a dog and hates it that you buy music second hand, at least he's down with the secret gay agenda. Brooks' outting to the world began in his 1992 single "We Shall Be Free" that featured the lyrics "When we’re free to love anyone we choose" which, even if it's just one line, was the first mainstream country song to even mention LGTBQ rights.

  It turns out that Brooks was made hip to the idea of people being able to smoosh their faces against whoever the felt like it by his late sister Betsy Smittle, who was gay and a part of his touring band. 

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