Garth Brooks frequently collaborates with his wife, Trisha Yearwood, but many fans might not know that he co-wrote one of his biggest hits with his first wife, Sandy Mahl. Brooks collaborated with Mahl on “That Summer,” but only after the original idea that he had started with songwriter Pat Alger didn’t quite pan out.
In a 1996 television special, Brooks recalled that the original story was about a married woman whose husband is ignoring her at a party, so she goes off and has an affair with a single guy. Brooks’ producer, Allen Reynolds, told him he couldn’t root for the characters in the song, and Brooks agreed. Driving home from that meeting with his then-wife, he started singing, “She had a need to feel the thunder,” and Mahl helped him craft what came to be the final chorus of “That Summer.”
The final lyrics tell the story of a “teenage kid so far from home” who loses his virginity to a “lonely widow woman” he goes to work for one summer. “She had a need to feel the thunder / To chase the lightnin’ from the sky / To watch a storm with all its wonder / Ragin’ in her lover’s eyes / She had to ride the heat of passion / Like a comet burnin’ bright / Rushin’ headlong in the wind, out where only dreams have been / Burning both ends of the night,” Brooks sings in the chorus.
“That Summer” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart on July 3, 1993, after it was released as the fourth single from Brooks’ album, The Chase. Brooks filed for divorce from Mahl on Nov. 6, 2000, and he’s been married to Trisha Yearwood since December of 2005.
Sterling Whitaker is a Senior Writer and Senior Editor for Taste of Country. He focuses on celebrity real estate, as well as coverage of Yellowstone and related shows like 1883 and 1923. He’s interviewed cast members including Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, Sam Elliott and Harrison Ford, and Whitaker is also known for his in-depth interviews with country legends including Don Henley, Rodney Crowell, Trace Adkins, Ronnie Milsap, Ricky Skaggs and more.
Garth Brooks has been filling the biggest arenas in the U.S. and the world since he launched his country career in 1989. There are 20 songs that have emerged as fan favorites, and Brooks has played some of them hundreds of times over the years. Data reflected runs through March 2024.
Garth Brooks is one of the most successful musicians in any genre of music. Take a look back in time, to a younger Garth. Garth Brooks is the most successful country entertainer of all time, and his long career is full of lore and incredible stories. But there’s a few fun facts about the star that even his most dedicated fans might not know. Read on to test your Garth Brooks trivia knowledge!
Garth Brooks has written quite a few of his own hits, but a number of other artists have cut his songs, too … and not just country singers. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s former beachside house in Malibu offered a gorgeous vacation paradise for the country music power couple to relax. Brooks and Yearwood bought their 4-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 4,200-square-foot house in Malibu for slightly less than $5 million in June of 2008. The house itself is fairly modest, but very well-appointed, featuring an open floor plan.
The living room boasts a corner fireplace and multiple sets of French doors that open to the backyard. The kitchen includes marble countertops, while skylights offer plenty of natural California sunlight. The den features floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on either side of a fireplace of white brick. The backyard is spectacular, featuring a loggia, an outdoor fireplace, a half-court basketball court and elaborate landscaping. The house provides direct access to the world-famous Malibu beach via a set of steps. The couple sold the house in Malibu in late 2016 for $7 million.
Garth Brooks’ Las Vegas residency is getting even bigger. On Monday (Nov. 20), the singer announced 18 new dates for his Garth Brooks/Plus One Las Vegas Residency, all of which will take place in the back half of 2024. Of course, Brooks’ calendar is well-stocked in the months leading up to the new slate of dates: After first announcing a robust list of 2023 shows, the country legend doubled down with more dates throughout the spring and summer of 2024. Now, the most-recently-announced batch of dates will carry him through December of next year.
Just like the dates he’s already announced, Brooks’ new run of residency shows will return to the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, according to Ticketmaster. It’s not a huge surprise that Brooks is expanding his residency again. When he first announced that he was headed to Vegas, he joked to Good Morning America that he planned to stay there “’til they throw me out.”
“I’m hoping [fans] get something here that they can’t get anywhere else,” Brooks went on to say about his show, explaining that the “no phone, no video” policy he’d instated for the shows would free him up to try out brand new material. However, it seems like this block of shows will be the last: A statement on Brooks’ website describes these dates as the “final” shows of the residency.
Tickets to the late 2024 dates on Brooks’ residency will go on sale Monday, Nov. 27 (Cyber Monday), but pre-sales will be available beginning Tuesday (Nov. 21).
Garth Brooks, Garth Brooks/Plus One Las Vegas Residency Fall 2024 Dates:
Sept. 26, 28, 29
Oct. 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13
Dec. 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22
Source: Taste of Country
