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ilookedintoit · 9 days

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In Another's Eyes: Garth & Trisha, Part 2

Following Trisha's second divorce, tabloids run wild with stories about her and Garth. Their longtime friendship, recent collaborations, and the shakiness of Garth's own marriage do nothing but lend credence to these rumors in people's minds.

It won't be long before Garth eventually files for divorce himself, making way for the formation of one of country music's most powerful and long-awaited couples.

1999

Fall 1999

Tabloids like Star and the National Enquirer waste no time printing stories about Garth and Trisha in the midst of her divorce.

From Star Magazine:

Trisha Yearwood has called it quits on her five-year marriage — and STAR can now reveal it was her special relationship with superstar Garth Brooks that did the damage. Insiders say that Brooks' incessant late night calls, secret codes and his onstage crooning with Yearwood drove her husband Robert Reynolds, bass guitarist for the country-rock group The Mavericks, to issue Trisha an ultimatum — and she walked out the door. "Robert was going crazy over the late-night phone calls Garth made to Trisha and how much he seemed to occupy her thoughts and her time," says an insider. "To make matters worse, Trisha has been telling people that Garth was the love of her life and that if he had been single when they first met they might have married. "Robert really isn't the jealous type, but the closeness between his wife and Garth Brooks made him uneasy. If you see them on stage, no one can doubt the chemistry between them." Now, Nashville is waiting for the other shoe to drop. The country music capital is abuzz with talk that Sandy Brooks intends to end her 13-year marriage to Garth because the singer pays too little attention to his family — and too much attention to his old friend Trisha. "Garth and Trisha have known each other a long time and have looked for excuses throughout their careers to spend time together," says the source. "They may not be having an affair, but it's clear they have strong feelings for one another. A lot of people think they may wind up together, eventually." (October 19, 1999)

From the National Enquirer:

Trisha Yearwood's divorce suit has set tongues wagging that she's carrying on a secret affair with superstar Garth Brooks! The country songbird cited "irreconcilable differences" when she filed legal papers to end her five-year marriage to musician Robert Reynolds of The Mavericks. But there'd been talk for months their marriage was collapsing — and that 35-year-old Trisha was involved with Garth, sources say. Speculation started when Trisha and Garth teamed up for a passionate duet at the American Music Awards show earlier this year. Then rumblings of trouble hit Garth's marriage. Garth, who has three young daughters with wife Sandy, strongly denies any trouble in paradise. But then Trisha showed up at the Academy of Country Music Awards show in May without her wedding ring. Garth himself has been seen recently not wearing his wedding band. That added more fuel to the fire, even though Trisha later explained she'd left the ring on a dressing room table. "Robert really thinks Trisha and Garth were up to something," says an insider. "After all, Trisha would be on the road with Garth or she'd fly in to one of Garth's concerts or she'd be on 'Hollywood Squares' with Garth or she'd join Garth in Ireland to sing a love song on his TV special. It was all Trisha and Garth. Together. All over the place. "Garth has gone to great lengths to deny any involvement with other women and to say he loves his wife and he's staying with her. "But Robert is convinced Trisha and Garth were having an affair and she's divorcing him so she'll finally be free for Garth." (October 19, 1999)

And another from the National Enquirer:

Garth Brooks was so obsessed with fellow country star Trisha Yearwood that he walked out on his wife in a desperate bid to win Trisha's heart! But even though Trisha's marriage was collapsing, she turned him down flat. "Garth left his wife Sandy during the summer for one reason only -- to try to make Trisha a permanent part of his life," a close source told The ENQUIRER. "Garth told Trisha, 'I've loved you ever since we started working together.' He even told Trisha he'd left Sandy for her." But Garth, 37, was stunned when Trisha told him, "I'm sorry, it's not going to happen. I love you as a friend — that's all." While friends insist that Brooks was just one factor in the couple's split, the billionaire country star has haunted the marriage of Trisha and Robert for more than a year, the close source revealed. "Garth bombarded her with gifts and cards and left romantic messages on her answering machine, not caring that Bobby or guests could hear the messages. "A friend who visited the house last Christmas told me, 'Trisha had a card from Garth openly displayed. On the front were flowers, and inside was a very romantic message that practically amounted to a love letter.' It was there for anyone to read — and Trisha didn't seem to care." "Bobby was so angry he told friends, 'I feel like punching the guy out.' But in the end he never even talked to Garth about it. "Trisha's been quite open with Bobby about Garth. She told him that Garth is obsessed with her. But she insisted that although they became close from touring together, she doesn't share his romantic feelings. "Soon after Trisha turned Garth down, he got back together with Sandy and the kids. (November 9, 1999)

Though immediate attention is on Garth possibly being involved in or responsible for Trisha's divorce, comments on the Usenet groups at the time have fan talk of Robert being unfaithful on the road, with claims from posters such as this one:

"I *do* know that Robert is a sweet man, but I also know for a fact that he had a roving eye. He tried to put the make on one of my best friends (I saw and heard it all), not knowing that her fiance was standing about 6 or 7 feet away from us. I remember being very angry afterwards about it....I really like both Robert and Trisha. Who knows why the marriage ended? I imagine that "roving eye" had something to do with it though. Too bad."

Another poster claimed:

"I find it most amusing that the tabs are recycling this ancient garbage while ignoring the *real* reason behind the split - Robert's philandering on the road."

December 1999

On December 15, during an interview with The Nashville Network's Crook & Chase Show, Garth reveals he is planning to possibly retire in the next year.

Garth Brooks, the biggest-selling act in country music history, said Wednesday that he “probably” will retire next year to spend more time with his three young daughters. “I never ever though in my life I’d say this, but music is not the first thing in my life anymore,” Brooks said. “Those girls somehow came along and they just take your energy and all of a sudden all you want to do is you want to do things that make them smile.” Brooks, whose daughters with wife, Sandy, are 3, 5, and 7, said he will “lay low” for nine or 10 months, plan a big party and “probably announce our retirement at the end of the year.” (Associated Press)

2000

January

Garth talks about his marriage struggles while accepting an award for Artist of the Decade at the American Music Awards on January 17:

"To my wife Sandy, it's no mystery that our future, we don't know what's going to happen, but you can't deny that the last decade has been because of God and you."

“Sandy and my relationship deserves the time to be worked on, and right now we’re doing that and trying real hard, and that’s it.” Though there have been rumblings about the breakup of Brooks and his wife, Sandy, she accompanied him to the show and even came backstage with him, smiling on the sidelines while he talked to the press. (Press of Atlantic)

Garth also addresses his marriage issues in an interview with Good Morning American on January 20.

Several of you were quite miffed that I didn’t tell you what Garth Brooks said about his “troubled marriage” Thursday on Good Morning America. Well, excuuuuuse me! Garth, in short, said that his marriage is troubled. Well, actually, his exact words were that it’s “not in a good place” right now. He had some rambling quotes about respect and whether he and Sandy made each other like themselves, and… Oy. In yesterday’s USA Today, Sandy and the kids took out a half-page ad congratulating Garth on all his accomplishments. So who knows? (The Tennessean, “Brad About You” column)

February 2000

Garth plays a surprise set at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville on February 11, and according to The Tennessean, Sandy is there with him.

April 2000

In an interview with the Calgary Sun, Trisha denies the tabloid rumors about her and Garth and seems very irritated about them.

Everybody knows the rumours! Apparently Trisha Yearwood was putting a wrench in Garth Brooks' marriage. Yearwood and Brooks were recording and touring together, and when she and Mavericks' bass player Robert Reynolds called it quits last fall after more than five years of marriage, the rumour mill went into high gear, linking the two country stars. Yearwood and Brooks have denied any romance and it's not one of Yearwood's favourite topics. "People who want to talk about that kind of stuff, they must not realize what it would be like to be in my shoes, and to have a family and parents that you love and want to protect," Yearwood tells the Sun during a phone interview to promote her new album Real Live Woman. "It's gotten to be such an ugly society. I know the truth and I know who I am, so I don't care what people think." So when these stories come out, do you feel like calling up Sandy (Mrs. Garth Brooks) to explain yourself? "I know Sandy well and I see her and it's not an issue," Yearwood replies flatly. Well, then, can you two joke about it? "It's not worth talking about," she says, closing the door on that subject. (Calgary Sun)

May 2000

A report in The Tennessean douses hopes that Garth and Trisha will ever release the duets album that they have previously teased.

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have talked for several years about making a duet album. It appears, however, that that's all it will amount to. If they were going to do it, Trisha said, they should have had it in release when they toured together in 1998. "I feel like the golden opportunity was then, and it passed," she said. While the two are friends, they have some distinct musical differences, and finding 10 songs they could agree on, she says, would be close to impossible. "The things we have in common are really in common, and the things we don't have in common are really not in common, and so with music, that means there are some songs that we just totally get, that both of us get. "And there are songs on my albums that he totally doesn't get, and there are songs on his albums that I totally don't get. Then there are the few that come together, and to find a whole album of those, someone would probably either be injured or killed in the process."

October 2000

Garth tells Billboard magazine and his rep confirms October 7, 2000, that he and Sandy are planning to divorce.

In addition to taking the year off to think about your career, you repeatedly said you were taking the time off to spend with your family and work on your marriage. How is that going? As for my personal life, Sandy and I both agree that we need to get divorced. We just don't know... Right now, we're focusing on the impact it will have on the children and how to handle that best, to remain parents even if we don't remain husband and wife. When I think about how hard a year this has been, you always have this thing in the back of your mind going, "Pfft, you don't know what hard is." I've been very fortunate. The people have taken care of me. I've never wanted for anything. But personally, the loss of my mother [in August 1999], compiled with coming off tour for the first time in 11 years — compiled with coming home to a woman where you two seem to get along better when you're apart and facing that and facing up to that — have been the highlights as far as the hard times. But the trade that I made [is that] I am an infinite number of times closer to my children than I've been the entire seven years of their lives before [this year off]. And I can't help but think when I lie down at night and say my prayers that that in itself to me is worth the trade I've made to get here.

A few weeks later, Garth confirms his intent to enter retirement in order to spend more time with his children:

Citing family and career concerns, country music star Garth Brooks said Thursday he plans to retire after releasing and promoting one more album. "I'm here to announce my retirement," Brooks said at a news conference before a gala to celebrate 100 million album sales. "I've done my career with the old saying, 'Burn bright, burn fast,' " he said. "I wasn't going to be somebody that we could come to really appreciate, like Billy Joel and James Taylor, and know that their stuff was timeless." Brooks, 38, said he didn't want the new album, scheduled for release next summer, to be tagged a "farewell" project. At some point, he also may record a duet album with Trisha Yearwood and make a soundtrack album to accompany a film project from his production company in Los Angeles. "My children and I are together every day," Brooks said, "and every night I tuck those children in, and I'm responsible for their safety. I feel good about that. I have asked my wife to be father and mother long enough. It's time for me to accept my responsibilities, and accept the true rewards that come with being a father." (Source)

2001

Garth and Sandy continue to live near each other as they co-parent their daughters. According to Garth's documentary, the two would make sure their daughters saw both of them every single day.

After the divorce, Brooks built a new house across the road from Mahl, and the two shared custody of their daughters. They decided not to hire nannies. For Brooks, who was used to spending much of the year on the road, this was a big transition. “I was living with three strange women that I did not know. They were 8, 6 and 4,” he remembered. “I was about to get a crash course in females … and my best friend showed up.” That best friend was Trisha Yearwood—“Ms. Yearwood,” as Brooks still refers to her.

June 2001

It is not clear when Garth and Trisha actually began embarking on a true relationship after his divorce filing.

Eight months after Garth's divorce announcement, in a June 2001 interview with Billboard magazine, Trisha laments being unable thus far to balance her career with her personal life, and says she needs time on her own but still wants a family:

How do you balance your personal and professional lives? Do you feel you've made sacrifices for your career? Looking back, I have sacrificed my personal life because it's impossible—I thought it was possible—but it's been impossible for me to have success in both areas, especially being married to another artist when you are both gone all the time. Why do you get married to be apart? It just doesn't work. I've had a lot of time this year to think. I need to be on my own for a while. I've never been alone. I've always been in relationships. It's been a really hard year, but really good for me to learn how to do that. I think I'll be a better partner to somebody by learning how to be OK on my own. But, the other side of it, I could definitely see myself waking up in 10 years, in a blink of an eye, and I'm 46 years old: I'm still single, and I don't have any children. I can see how it can happen, and I don't want that for myself. I don't think I'm a loner. I'm a family-oriented person. While I'm sitting here making records and doing this and this and this, everybody else in my life is having their children, going to soccer games, going to church on Sundays and having families for dinner, which is the way I grew up. It's what I want for myself. I know the danger for me is to be right where I am in the next 10 years, unless I make a conscious effort to not have that kind of life.

July 2001

Trisha talks about her divorce from Robert Reynolds and insists that it wasn't his jealousy of her that caused their problems.

Country music star Trisha Yearwood says her divorce from musician Robert Reynolds did not have anything to do with the fact that she's had more commercial success than he has had. The couple, who had no children, married in 1994 and split five years later. Reynolds is a member of the country-rock band the Mavericks. "They sold four million albums. I think they did really good!" Yearwood, 36, said in the July 21 issue of TV Guide. "It's hard to go through something like (divorce), and everyone has written their take," she added. "There's no way that I could possibly set every person in America straight about how all that went down."

November 2001

Garth's Coast to Coast concert special for CBS airs on TV. Trisha makes an appearance during his concert and they sing "Squeeze Me In," which is their duet on Garth's new album, Scarecrow.

December 2001

Garth and Sandy's divorce is finalized and reported on December 17, 2001. Sandy reportedly gets a $125 million settlement.

The divorce is final for Garth Brooks and his wife of nearly 15 years, Sandy. The 39-year-old country singer cited irreconcilable differences in a complaint filed in November 2000 in Davidson County Circuit Court. The couple had been separated since March 1999, according to court papers. Karen Byrd, spokeswoman for Brooks, would not comment Monday beyond confirming that the singer's divorce is final.

2002

I think it is safe to say that Garth and Trisha are officially together by early 2002 at the latest.

Garth doesn't specify the timing, but says in his 2019 documentary that after "thirteen, fourteen years [of saying] 'It can't be,'" one particular occurrence prompted him to finally initiate something more with Trisha:

"I heard someone tell me that Trisha’s mother, Gwen, had said she would be proud if Garth Brooks was her son-in-law, and I think that’s what gave me the courage to pursue her daughter."

Trisha: I always say I thought I was happy in my life and I just think I didn’t understand that this is what love is really is, and I just had no idea. It’s a ton of bricks that lands on you and you have no choice. So I’m terrified, but I also had spent how many years avoiding it that I finally decided to just run on toward it.

January 2002

Garth, Trisha, Chely Wright, and “Australian newcomer Keith Urban” host an invite-only show the weekend of January 5, 2002, to benefit the Nashville Songwriters International’s battle to protect songwriter copyrights.

Per The Tennessean, Trisha was initially slated to host the event but had to back out due to illness. So who should fly in for the event from New York City in order to be her replacement on short notice? Her good friend Garth. Trisha still attends the event to introduce Garth and show her support.

February 2002

Garth visits several schools as part of a Read Across America campaign at the end of February, and Trisha joins in for a few of his stops.

March 2002

Garth and Trisha are reported to be an official couple after they are seen holding hands at songwriter Harlan Howard's funeral on March 19, 2002.

The paper reports Brooks had his arm around Yearwood, and observers said the two were seen holding hands several times that day, in the seats and backstage. Brooks and Yearwood have been seen together at various restaurants and social functions. Reports even say the two have told friends they're dating. Brooks and Yearwood have been friends and have recorded multiple duets together. Neither artist could be reached for a comment. (Source)

Pictured above: Garth and Trisha make their red carpet debut in June 2002, three months after the first report about them being a couple.

June 2002

On June 13, 2002, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood make their first red carpet appearance together at a Songwriters Hall of Fame event in New York.

May 2005

Garth says in "The Road I'm On" that when he decided to propose to Trisha, he sat down with the girls and Sandy to let them know ahead of time. In response, Sandy said:

“I think this is a really good move for you, and I think this is a really good move for our children.”

On May 25, 2005, Garth proposes to Trisha on stage in front of thousands of people at a special event unveiling bronze statues of Brooks and other country music legends in Bakersfield, California.

Country music icon Garth Brooks proposed marriage to longtime girlfriend and music star Trisha Yearwood on stage Wednesday night. The proposal was made in front of more than 7,000 screaming fans at the Legends In Bronze concert and dedication at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace. Brooks got on one knee and asked a teary-eyed Yearwood to be his wife. She smiled and nodded in acceptance, then they kissed in front of a sold-out audience, which went wild.

Brooks was on hand to see a bronze statue built in his likeness unveiled along with nine other statues of country music greats at Owens' popular steakhouse. Honorees included Brooks, Owens, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, George Strait, George Jones, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr., Bob Wills and Johnny Cash. The statues were made by sculptor Bill Rains, who had made the statues of Owens and Cash already on display at the Crystal Palace. The project took him two years. The proposal came as a surprise at the event where Owens, Brooks, Jones and Haggard were to be honored for their vast contributions to country music.

With Brooks as the most contemporary artist honored, his statue was unfurled last. After a video tribute to Brooks, the country hit-maker came out with Yearwood to take a closer look at the statue. Yearwood appeared to be straying off with Brooks to look at a statue of Bob Wills when suddenly Brooks got down on one knee, causing the audible gasps of Yearwood and the thousands in attendance. Owens congratulated the couple after Yearwood accepted Brooks' ring. "This is one of the greatest days of my life. Thank God!" shouted Brooks after Yearwood accepted. (Source)

December 2005

They marry in a private ceremony at home in Oklahoma on December 10, 2005.

“They said it is the perfect Christmas gift to each other, and they couldn’t be happier,” said Nancy Seltzer, a publicist for the couple.

2006

February 2006

In an interview with PARADE Magazine, Garth proclaims that he always loved Trisha, but that they did not have an affair.

“I think I was always in love with Trisha,” he said, “even when I was a boy, before I ever knew her. She was always the woman I loved.” “The minute I met her, I felt she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. When she walked into that room, all the air went out of me, and all I could breathe in was the way this woman smelled. When you’re with her, she makes you feel amazing! … The moment I saw her, the place where I was standing became Wonderland.” In all that time, Brooks told me, he and Yearwood were not intimate. “She was married or I was, or we both were,” he said. “I wouldn’t screw up her life, and she wouldn’t hurt someone else.” “I had no idea we’d ever be together,” Yearwood said. “It was something we never discussed. For years, I couldn’t tell Garth, ‘I have a crush on you.’ In both our lives, we traveled a lot because of our careers. We both thought, ‘Why be in another relationship just to be apart?’” “When we got married, I knew it was because I wanted to be with him forever,” said Trisha, 41. “I was willing to compromise. I moved here to his town, where his ex-wife is. Seeing him with his kids makes me love him even more. I get it now. I am here because I love this man. He’s a great dad.”

Stepmom

Trisha will say in the years after their marriage that it took an adjustment period for both her and Garth's daughters when she came into their lives.

The country singer admits that at first, she wasn’t sure what to do or how to be around Garth’s daughters. The couple split visitation with Garth’s ex-wife Sandy Mahl, and had the kids every other day until 6 p.m. Said Trisha, "I would be sitting there thinking, ‘What do we do until 6 o’clock? I don’t know what to do with children.’" However, those feelings didn’t last long for the 43-year-old, who says she now thinks of herself as a "Bonus Mom" for the girls. "It became, ‘Okay, I’m still scared, but it’s not as bad,’ and then it became, ‘I love having them all the time.’ You fall in love with them. You learn why people have kids." Trisha added that each of the kids have "distinctively different personalities." "We’ve all got a different relationship, and we just kind of [take it] day by day…I sort of earned my way, and I continue to earn my way, with each of them." (Source)

When Trisha Yearwood wed fellow country star Garth Brooks in 2005, she married into a blended family. It was uncharted territory for Yearwood, who never had kids of her own. “When you don’t have children, you have the luxury of being selfish because it’s just about you,” Yearwood, 57, told SheKnows. “You don’t have to think about somebody else first. And as an artist, it’s easy to be really egocentric because your job is to be thinking about your career, what you have to do next, how you’re going to take yourself to the next level.” Yearwood acknowledged there were challenges in the beginning. The Grammy-winning singer had never parented before and had to find her footing. But she has since formed an unbreakable bond with Brooks’ three daughters... “It was a gift that I received from Garth and the girls of having them in a life that I didn’t know I was missing,” she said. “I can’t imagine my life without them.” (Source)

In the 2019 documentary "The Road I'm On," Garth's eldest daughter Taylor admits she did not handle Trisha's entrance into their lives that well at first.

Taylor: "I wasn’t the nicest to Trisha when she first came. We would go out in the backyard, and I would catch tarantulas in Ziploc bags, and I’d put them in the freezer so that way, when Trisha would open the freezer, a tarantula would fall out. Just terrible things."

But, Taylor says she now sometimes will affectionately call Trisha "Mama T," same as her sisters. As middle daughter August said: "I have my mom and my Mama T and my dad."

Trisha: "They never made me feel like the evil stepmother; they might have thought it, [laughs] but they never said it."

And Garth's ex-wife, Sandy, also voiced her approval of her kids' bonus mom:

"We enjoy our kids together. I love and appreciate Trisha. It’s good."

Since their wedding, Garth and Trisha make the effort to spend time together, something that wasn't always the case in their previous marriages.

Trisha: We made a conscious effort when we got married not to be apart. Garth was retired but I wasn’t. So when I moved to Oklahoma I cut my tour dates way down. Then I eventually didn’t tour. That’s how my cookbook began. It was something to do creatively that I could do at home, never dreaming it would turn into all this other stuff. [Yearwood hosts her own Emmy-winning Food Network cooking show, Trisha’s Southern Southern Kitchen and wrote three cookbooks.] 99 percent of the time we’re together. We don’t spend very many nights apart. (Source)

Looking back on the road that led them to each other, Garth said it was for the best that he and Trisha weren't able to get together when they first met in 1987.

“If we’d gotten married then, either the career wouldn’t have been what it was in the ’90s or our marriage wouldn’t have lasted. So I have to believe that things happen when they happen," Brooks observes. "I feel very lucky right now where I’m at. So even if I did have regrets, I wouldn’t change anything in fear of changing where I’m at right now.”

#Trisha Yearwood #garth brooks

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ilookedintoit · 13 days

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In Another's Eyes: Garth & Trisha, Part 1

When Garth Brooks met Trisha Yearwood in a Nashville studio in the late 1980s, both singers were unknown and still hoping for their big break in country music.

Though Garth would later admit he felt like he had met his wife when he and Trisha first crossed paths, the fact was he already had a wife, and Trisha had a husband. So they were friends, and Garth made Trisha a promise - if his career ever took off, he'd be sure to give her a boost in any way he could.

Just a few years later, Garth was riding a wave of major success and he needed an opener for his upcoming tour. He picked Trisha. As they both became two of the biggest names in country music, they remained friends, contributed to each other's albums, and released a Grammy-winning duet. All the time, Garth was married to his college sweetheart Sandy, producing three children.

When Garth and his wife filed for divorce, everyone predicted he and Trisha would end up together after years of tabloid rumors - and of course, they did. But did anything happen between them before he was finally single?

1986

May 1986

Garth marries Sandy Mahl on May 24, 1986, when he is 24 and she is 21.

Garth met his future wife in 1983 when he was working as a bouncer at the Tumbleweed Ballroom, a bar in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She was a fellow student at Oklahoma State University.

Two versions of their first meeting have been told. Sandy would say in Garth's 2019 documentary, "The Road I'm On," that they met when Garth asked her to dance.

The other story that Garth told in the early 90s was that they met after Garth went into the women’s bathroom to break up a fight and found Sandy with her fist stuck in the wall.

After Brooks extricated the fist and ejected the lovely lass from the club, he tried to pick her up. “She said, ‘Drop dead!’ and called me a few other names and walked off.” “I said, ‘Well, can I call ya?’” the undaunted suitor recalls. Sandy gave him the courage to give his music a try. He’d come to Nashville once in 1985, but was terrified on his own in the country capital and fled homeward. But with Sandy by his side, Brooks came to Music City to stay in 1987. She calmed his fears and they took jobs at a boot store while he knocked on the doors of Music Row. (The Tennessean)

1987

June 1987

Garth and Trisha will first meet while working as demo singers at a studio in Nashville. Garth has often said he had been married for 13 months when this occurred, so it was presumably in June 1987 that they met.

Trisha was also married, having wed music producer Christopher Latham earlier that same year.

"Kent Blazy introduced me and Ms. Yearwood, and he goes, 'I knew you were gonna like her,'" Brooks recalled during a 2013 interview with Ellen DeGeneres. "When she left, he goes, 'What do you think?' "I said, 'Well, it's strange because I felt that feeling like when you just met your wife.'" (Source)

Garth and Trisha, how did you know the other person was the one? Garth: When you meet someone, you know. The problem was [when I first met her] I had been married for over a year. And that couldn’t have been wrong because you’re married in front of your family and God. You think, there must be some feeling that isn’t right. Trisha: It was probably the minute I met him, even though I didn’t know it at the time. (Source)

In Garth's 2019 documentary, "The Road I'm On," she reiterates that she had no intentions on anything ever happening.

“You feel the chemistry, it’s like there’s something here — but I’m gonna go home now… For me it was, I’m a good little southern girl, I was married, he was married. Not my world in that moment, it’s not an option. So when I left that day, I just thought he’s a nice guy, great voice, and I wish him well.”

A few years later, Trisha would recall this meeting and the promise that Garth made to her at the time:

He and Yearwood were among Music Row’s most in-demand singers of demonstration tapes; writer Kent Blazy knew them both and brought them together for a session. “That day we were singing on the same mike and doing the same licks and it was like, ‘This is really strange,’ and we really hit it off,” Yearwood recalled. “He said then, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen with my career, but if I’m lucky enough to have some success I want to help any way I can.’ "I didn’t think about it, I put it out of my head, and went on about my business and made a living doing demos." (The Tennessean)

1989

April 1989

Garth releases his debut album "Garth Brooks" through Capitol Records Nashville in April 1989.

As he begins to achieve success, he also ends up cheating on Sandy while on the road.

When he married Sandy, he figured he’d settle down—only to give into temptation once given the chance. “I don’t see [unfaithfulness] as a necessity,” he insisted. “Anybody starting out saying, ‘Man, this has to happen’ — bullshit. It doesn’t.” During his first major tour in support of his debut album for Capitol Records, 1989’s "Garth Brooks," the entertainer was called out by friends for sleeping with other women while on the road. Sandy made an ultimatum: Stop fooling around or lose me. (Source: Garth Brooks: The Life & Times of a Country Superstar)

November 1989

One night when Garth is in Missouri for a concert, Sandy calls him and tells him that she is leaving him if he doesn't change his ways.

Then, says Sandy, ''an informant'' on tour confirmed her worst suspicions. ''Garth has always been a very sexual person,'' she says. ''It was his ego: proving he could look out, point and conquer. What made it easier to cope with was that it wasn't someone special. It didn't mean anything.'' In those heady first months, Garth admits, ''I was a spoiled ass. Responsibility, commitment was not my game.'' Sandy, who never toured with Garth back then, recalls it was the night of Nov. 4, 1989, when she nailed him by phone before a show. ''I told him my bags were packed, my plane ticket's bought, and I'm gone,'' she says. '''You come home and we'll talk, on my turf, eye to eye.''' (People Magazine)

He would tell Barbara Walters in a nationally-televised interview in 1993 about how he broke down on stage that night when trying to sing "If Tomorrow Never Comes:"

Garth: I guess you’d probably go back to playing Cape Girardeau, Missouri; this was when Sandy found about everything I’d been doing. Barbara Walters: Found out that there were other women. Garth: I got through the first three songs fine, and “If Tomorrow Never Comes” comes up, and … there wasn’t anything else. There was nothing left, I was inside out. The band kept playing, I didn’t know what to do, and I asked them to stop and they didn’t. I asked them to stop again and they did. This place was silent. I remember walking out and the applause was there, a different kind of applause, almost like a support applause.

Garth was able to win Sandy's forgiveness over time:

The mending took a while. ''I wanted Garth to feel my pain,'' says Sandy. ''He had hurt me so bad. I had wasted two years of my life is how I felt. I'd been the perfect little wife who thought everything was hunky-dory. The hardest thing was to keep from beating the holy s--- outta Garth at the sight of him. He was ashamed, embarrassed, and it was written all over his face. He broke down like a baby. He was on his knees, more or less beggin' me, 'I'll change, anything. You name it, I'll do it.''' And so he has. ''It took a helluva human being to forgive me,'' says Brooks. ''I had to promise I'd make this marriage work. It ain't a bed of roses now, but we bust our asses, and it works unbelievably well. For the first time in my life, I feel good about being a husband and a partner.'' As for Sandy, ''I love her to death,'' he adds solemnly. ''When I've been down, Sandy has given me strength. That's definitely given me what I have.'' (People Magazine)

1990

Garth's star is on the rise while Trisha is still looking for her breakthrough. In the meantime, Trisha provides backup vocals for Garth’s second album “No Fences,” which is released in August 1990.

Garth also introduces her to his managers, Bob Doyle and Pam Lewis, and his producer Allen Reynolds introduces Trisha to her new producer, Garth Fundis. (“I’m probably the only person in town who works with both Garths,” she quips.)

"No Fences" will inevitably be a smash hit with singles including "Friends In Low Places," "Unanswered Prayers," and "The Thunder Rolls."

October 1990

Garth wins the Horizon Award at the CMA Awards on October 8, 1990, and he insists on bringing Sandy up to the stage with him. Before accepting his award, he says:

“I’m not much good at it, but when I don’t sing I try to be a husband."

1991

As Garth prepares for his headlining tour and Trisha prepares to release her first album, he makes good on his promise to her from a few years ago to give her a career boost when it's in his power to do so.

As her first single "She's In Love with the Boy" begins its climb to No. 1, Trisha becomes Garth's opening act on his "Ropin' the Wind" tour. Trisha will tell The Tennessean in August 1991:

“When I got my deal, he came through and offered me this tour. I’ve been really lucky to be out on the road with someone that I’d had a friendship with before – and who also happens to be the hottest thing in country music.”

In the midst of the tour, Trisha releases her debut album "Trisha Yearwood" in July. Garth sings supporting vocals on her second single "Like We Never Had A Broken Heart," which peaks at No. 4 on the country chart.

According to the 1993 book “Get Hot or Go Home” written about Trisha with her cooperation, her new success and time away on tour hastens the demise of her already “faltering” marriage.

Christopher Latham tried to get her to seek counseling with him. His wife’s response: “I just don’t see how I can get back feelings I never had.”

They divorce without much fanfare. Trisha would later say about the marriage:

“You are encouraged to get married when you are a small-town person, and that’s what I did even though I knew it wasn’t right. I had met this guy and I thought, ‘I am never going to meet anybody who cares about me this much,’ which is probably true, so I married him. “There was just no real spark, which I think there is supposed to be. It wasn’t show business that broke us up. We wouldn’t still be married if I was back answering telephones.” (The Los Angeles Times)

In addition to her divorce, Trisha faces taboid rumors that have popped up about her and Garth having an affair. About these rumors, she will later say:

“We knew back when we decided we were going to do the tour that there would be talk,” she said. “But the first time I read it in the tabloids, I got really upset. So did my mom. I thought, ‘I’ll have to call everybody and say it isn’t true.’ “Then I figured that if you believe what the tabloids said about me having an affair with Garth, then you’ll also believe what is on the next page, which is something preposterous.” (The Los Angeles Times)

November 1991

In November, Trisha leaves Garth's management team to sign with Ken Kragen. After a whirlwind year, she is deemed Nashville's hottest new artist.

Garth doesn't want to take credit:

“A lot of people are making the mistake of saying I introduced Trisha Yearwood to country music,” he says. “Her talent is so very, very visible that that’s like saying you introduced Wayne Gretzky to hockey.” (The Atlanta Constitution)

December 1991

STAR Magazine prints a story in its Dec. 10 issue about how Garth is "furious" about the cheating rumors surrounding him and Trisha.

Garth phoned his mother, Colleen, from Little Rock, Ark., to set the record straight. “He likes his family to hear bad news from him direct. So even while he was on tour, he made sure to call his mom specifically to tell her about the rumors that he was having an affair with Trisha Yearwood,” says a source. “He told her, ‘Mom, I just want you to know what people are saying and what they’re trying to make of an innocent situation. The rumors are false, Mom. You know I love Sandy and would never do anything to hurt her or jeopardize our marriage.’” Another associate points out that wife Sandy would never put up with sharing Garth with another woman. “Sandy is a strong, independent woman. If there were any truth to these rumors, Trish wouldn't have been his opening act as recently as last January. If Sandy had any suspicions whatsoever, Trish wouldn’t have been anywhere near Garth. What wife would allow a possible lover so close?"

1992

February 1992

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Garth and Sandy are featured on the cover of USA Weekend, talking about how they saved their marriage after his infidelity.

Sandy Brooks, a slim, intense woman with a rapid smile, sits at a Nashville restaurant in November, picking at a plate of fried steak. She has reason to be moody. Her husband is baring his soul, she has been on the road for three days and she thinks she might be pregnant. But she’s been so busy that she hasn’t had time to take a home pregnancy test. Across from her, Garth Brooks – her husband, but more significantly, the hottest act in the hottest music in America today – is speaking quietly about the womanizing that almost ended their six-year marriage. Sandy’s blue eyes fill with tears. “I asked myself, why do I stay here? I know I love him, but…” “She’s got every right to leave me,” Brooks finishes. “But I’m happy here,” she interrupts, the tears now spilling down. “I think it has something to do with my physical build and good looks, too,” says Brooks, trying to lighten the moment and flirtatiously batting his eyes, deep-set in a moon face under a receding hairline. It works. Sandy bursts out laughing, affectionately elbows Garth. He squeezes her shoulder. The tears retreat, the moment ends.

Garth admits that the time his career takes him away from his wife leads to continuing struggles.

“For every day I give Sandy, I turn around and give one or two to the music,” Brooks says softly. “This six months I’m taking off? It started out as six months for Sandy and me, and I bet you we won’t have seven days in that six months.” Sitting next to him Sandy, 27, nods in agreement. “The marriage is still together because of her, not because of me,” Brooks says. Until recently, “I had the mentality of, ‘OK, if you don’t want to put up with me, you can hit the road.’ She said, ‘OK!’ Then I finally straightened up. The wife I got back after my infidelity was 15 times the woman I had. Like, ‘I’m gonna show you that any time you leave this house, you’re losing something,’” says Garth, playfully imitating his wife.

And Sandy acknowledges that people don't understand why she is the one who gets to be married to country music's biggest star.

“A lot of people look at me and say, ‘Why you?’ I ask myself that also. My answer is, because I fell in love with a long-haired country boy long ago. I was there when it was like, how many ways can we figure out how to cook potatoes?” ... While Sandy is happy about the unplanned baby, she continues to hope for peace, quiet and Garth. “There will come a day in my life when it is just Garth and me. I might be 75 and toothless,” she says, laughing. “But that’s what keeps me going.”

March 1992

After wrapping up her opening act stint on Garth’s seven-month tour, Trisha reflects on what it has meant to her:

“Anybody would have killed to be on this tour,” she said between sips on a soft drink. “It was scary, intimidating and wonderful. I know a lot of people came to see Garth, but we had something to offer.” Their careers were not merely linked by the 80-city tour. Yearwood sang harmony on his albums “No Fences” and “Ropin’ the Wind,” which together have sold 12 million copies. In return, he sang harmony on her album and co-wrote two of the 10 songs, including her second hit, “Like We Never Had a Broken Heart.” “He’s been like a big brother to me,” she said. (Associated Press)

Around this same time, Trisha has begun dating Robert Reynolds, bass player for The Mavericks.

Yearwood met Reynolds at a party given by her label, MCA. “It was really one of those corny across-the-room kind of things,” Yearwood says. “I saw him and he kind of saw me and we rounded the ice sculpture and met in the middle.” (The Atlanta Journal)

April 1992

In April, a pregnant Sandy accompanies Garth to the ACM Awards. She has had some health scares during the pregnancy, and on stage as he accepts just one of the awards he will win that night, he thanks everyone for their concerns for her and the baby.

July 1992

Sandy gives birth to their first child, Taylor.

August 1992

As Garth struggles with the seemingly impossible task of balancing career and family, he toys with the idea of retirement. He tells the Edmond Evening Sun:

With the birth of a daughter, Taylor Mayne Pearl Brooks, the former Oklahoma State student is considering cutting short his career in favor of fatherhood and a more traditional home life with wife Sandy. “Fatherhood’s new for me and it’s kind of thrown me for a loop,” Brooks said. “One thing that I always recall that my parents gave me was time and attention. “And I think children deserve that. My occupation doesn’t allow me to give time and attention. So I’ve got to find a way, good Lord willing, to do ’em both. “If I can’t do ’em both, then I must not choose music over (my wife and daughter).” Brooks has a cutback in his schedule planned after December, at which time he said he will make a decision on his future. “I’m saying my prayers and hopefully I’ll make the right choice.”

1993

January 1993

Somewhat cynical reporting will claim this narrative of Garth wanting to retire is “partly a ploy during heated contract negotiations with his label, Liberty Records.”

Whatever the case, Garth ultimately does not retire and signs a new lucrative, 20-year contract with Liberty in January 1993.

February 1993

Trisha tells a reporter that she and Robert Reynolds are celebrating their first year together as a couple.

“It’s really nice to be with somebody who understands it (the country music business) because he does it, but who also understands that life is more important. When we’re together we have a five-minute business rule – we can talk about business for five minutes and that’s it.” (The Commercial Appeal)

March 1993

Trisha and Robert get engaged.

But she’s not about to abandon her career. “I would like a family someday, but I’ve been pretty unconventional up until now, so I don’t think I have to stop and have three kids.” (The Atlanta Journal)

June 1993

Trisha talks again about Garth's influence in getting her career started and the tabloid rumors that swirled around them.

Q: Were you surprised when Brooks picked you as his opening act? A: I was actually, because only a handful of people believed in me then. He took a really big risk. But when we met, he said, “I love your voice, and if things go well, I want to help you out.” And he obviously meant it. He sticks by what he believes in; that’s why he is who he is. Q: At the time, the tabloids wrote that you two were having an affair. A: It wasn’t true, and when I first read it, I thought I’d better call everybody and tell them it wasn’t true. Now I’ve learned that it’s part of [being in show business] – if you’re successful, you’re going to be in the tabloids. But I never even got talked about in high school! I was always a good girl. Q: Brooks must have taught you a lot. A: He’s like a big brother to me. He taught me about the things you’re supposed to do, like visiting radio shows. I learned a lot watching him with the fans – I never saw him be anything but gracious. He always remembered why he was there. (Simi Valley News)

1994

April 1994

Trisha says she and Garth have talked about possibly doing a duets album and going on tour together. She reiterates that he is like a "big brother" to her.

“I’ve made three albums now, and I want to do different things,” she said. One of those different things involves a “sort of side career” of duets with longtime friend Brooks. They recently talked backstage at an awards show about doing a duet album and maybe touring together as a twosome. They’ve talked about it for some time, Yearwood said, and finally decided to quit talking and do it. “There really haven’t been any famous duet partners in a long time, for more than one song or album,” she said. “I do think there’s a place for that. We’ve always traded harmonies on each other’s albums. “Garth’s always been like a big brother to me,” she continued. “We’re not just two voices singing at each other.” (Fort Worth Star Telegram)

May 1994

May is a big month for both Garth and Trisha.

On May 3, 1994, Sandy gives birth to her and Garth's second daughter, August.

Garth is announced as the ACM Entertainer of the Year this same day, but is unable to even accept his award via remote feed because he has gone to the hospital to await the birth.

And after more than two years together, Trisha marries Robert Reynolds on May 21, 1994, at the Ryman in Nashville with a small invitation list. They honeymoon afterward in Ireland.

December 1994

Garth indicates that he and Trisha have already tried to put together a duets album that didn't work, but are not giving up on the idea:

He still plans an album of duets with old buddy Trisha Yearwood; their first attempt wasn’t up to snuff, he reports.

He also says he wants to put his family first.

“Now every minute I don’t spend with my family I spend with music, not the other way around.” (Knight Ridder News Service)

1995

Spring-Summer 1995

Sandy is frequently at Garth's side during public events, including the People's Choice Awards in March, ACM Awards in May, and his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in June.

October 1995

Trisha tells the New York Daily News that she and her husband of 17 months are juggling busy schedules.

“We’re so busy, we practically have to make an appointment to see each other,” said the Georgia peach. “But it’s been a good year for us.” With The Mavericks being white-hot, Yearwood and Reynolds have been crossing flight paths since their wedding a year ago.

1996

July 1996

Garth and Sandy welcome their third daughter, Allie, on July 28, 1996.

August 1996

Trisha and Robert are still in what sounds like a long-distance marriage.

Yearwood’s extensive touring schedule is keeping her away from husband Robert Reynolds even more than usual. Reynolds plays bass in The Mavericks, the popular Miami-rooted roots-rock/country band, which is also on tour this summer. “I think, so far, the longest we’ve been apart this summer is right now which is two weeks,” Yearwood said last Friday. “And we’re going to see each other because I’m going to California and he’s going to be near there, so he’s going to get on a plane and come see me. We do that a lot. “We really go that extra mile to really seek out those days we can spend together. Sometimes it means flying into Nashville, like if I’m home and he’s on the road and has a day off, he’ll fly in and take me to a movie. It’s an expensive movie. But that’s kind of how we make it work.” “Things will eventually slow down for us – we won’t be touring this heavily the rest of our lives. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about what we used to do.” (Lincoln Journal Star – Aug. 23, 1996)

September 1996

In a September 10, 1996, cover story for Country Weekly, Trisha's life is deemed a "fairy tale" and Trisha gushes about Robert.

“I’m amazed we’ve been together for four years and still feel this way about each other. It’s kind of moving into a deeper level, even.” Life’s an adventure when the happy twosome finds time together, Trisha revealed. “He’s a laugh a minute. The last time we were home we put up the tepee I gave him for Christmas, and he was like a 12-year-old.” Asked how much time she and Robert get to spend together, Trisha said: “Believe it or not, we see each other quite a lot. He’s on the road and I’m on the road, but when one of us is off, we often fly to be with each other. We’ve got a lot of frequent flyer miles, let me tell you.”

October 1996

Garth and Sandy renew their marriage vows at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Madison, Tennessee, on October 26.

1997

May 1997

Garth films a concert special in Ireland that will air on TV the following year. Trisha flies there to provide harmonies and sing a duet with him for the Ireland concerts.

She talks about it to The Tennessean ahead of the filming and how she tries to balance real life with her demanding schedule:

Fitting normalcy into a jet-set schedule is difficult. Tomorrow morning, for example, she boards a plane for Ireland, where she’s slated to perform with Garth Brooks as the “backup chick singer” for a series of concerts. “Yesterday I get home, I’ve been on the road for three weeks,” Yearwood recounts. “I’m like, ‘OK, the shrubs have not been trimmed in the three years I’ve lived here,’ and I just got out a pair of weed whackers – the big shears – and I did the whole house. Robert comes home and goes, ‘What happened?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, I went nuts.’” … Yearwood consciously fights that tendency toward isolation. Husband Reynolds, with whom she’ll celebrate their third anniversary during the Ireland trip, pushes her toward normalcy, despite his own bit of fame as the bass player for the Grammy-winning band The Mavericks. “Robert is totally undaunted by success,” she notes. “He’ll go out on the road with me where everybody knows he’s out there, and he’ll go out in the audience with a laminate (backstage pass) on, and sign autographs for an hour. He’s so unafraid of just getting out there in the middle of it, and he encourages me, in turn, to be that way.”

Robert is along for the Ireland trip and they mark three years married:

Congrats to Trisha Yearwood and The Mavericks’ Robert Reynolds who are celebrating their third wedding anniversary today (May 21) with a trip to the tropical island where they first honeymooned. Trisha’s been in Ireland opening shows for Garth Brooks. (The Tennessean)

August 1997

Trisha's new album, Songbook, is released in August 1997 featuring a duet with Garth, "In Another's Eyes." Though they have worked together in the past on each other's albums and had entertained the idea of doing a duets album together, this is their first true, major collaboration.

This duet will kick off a partnership between the two that is much more frequent and consistent than it has been since Trisha opened for Garth in 1991.

"In Another's Eyes" is also sent to country radio in August as the second single from Trisha's album. The song was written by Garth Brooks, Bobby Wood, and John Peppard.

In another's eyes I'm someone who Loves her enough to walk away from you I'd never cheat, I'd never lie In another's eyes

In another's eyes I can do no wrong He believes in me and his faith is strong I'd never fall or even compromise In another's eyes

For country star Trisha Yearwood, the current hit “In Another’s Eyes” marks a new chapter in a long-standing friendship. The song is a duet with superstar Garth Brooks, who Yearwood knows from demo-singing days of the 1980s in Nashville. “We’ve been friends for 10 years, and we’ve always been on each other’s records,” said Yearwood during a recent telephone interview from her tour bus. “We talked about doing a duets album, which has never gotten done. But we got the one tune recorded, and it’s been really nice. I hope that it’s going to be the catalyst that gets us back into the studio, and gets us recording a whole album.” (The Times)

September 1997

To promote the song in addition to some joint performances during live concerts in the fall, Garth and Trisha appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

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They also appear and sing on Terry Bradshaw's show.

On September 25, 1997, Trisha wins Female Vocalist of the Year at the CMA Awards, and she thanks Robert who is in the audience. Garth wins Entertainer of the Year but is not in attendance because he is on the road.

1998

February 1998

Garth and Trisha win the Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "In Another's Eyes."

Beginning in February, Trisha joins a number of Garth's world tour dates throughout the duration of 1998 to sing "In Another's Eyes" and "Walkaway Joe" during the concerts.

Garth also drops in on one of Trisha's concerts in late February:

Country music fans at a free promotional miniconcert by Trisha Yearwood got an unexpected bonus. Superstar Garth Brooks dropped in on his friend and opening act at the Caravan of Dreams on Sunday afternoon. Yearwood and Brooks sang a couple of tunes to the surprised crowd, including their duet “Walkaway Joe,” that has been highlighting his concerts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area the past two weeks. When Brooks walked onstage fans were shocked, but Yearwood simply turned and asked, “Would you like a Tic-Tac?” (Odessa American)

April 1998

In early April, the soundtrack for the movie "Hope Floats" is released, featuring Garth and Trisha's separate versions of "To Make You Feel My Love" at the beginning and end of the track list.

At the ACM Awards on April 22, Trisha introduces the presentation of the Special Achievement award to Garth, as he and Sandy sit in the audience.

Trisha also wins Top Female Vocalist and mentions her husband in her acceptance speech:

"Thank you... to my sister, who’s my date tonight because my husband’s in London. I love you Robert, wherever you are."

In a Q&A with the Associated Press, Trisha praises the way Garth handles being so famous.

Q: Besides touring, including a trip and television special in Ireland, you and Garth Brooks recorded a duet. What has he taught you? A: I’ve known him for 10 years and we’re good friends. He’s like a big brother to me. I think we both value each other’s opinion. I watch him and how he deals with fans. Let me tell you, he has class. He’s a good person. The biggest thing to learn from him is he really focuses on the music and lets the other stuff (gossip and critics knocking him) fall to the wayside. He doesn’t act famous. I like that.

July 1998

Trisha appears on Prime Time Country on The Nashville Network, and Garth drops in as a surprise during her interview.

Garth: “Usually we’re everywhere together… So she was here, I was off… I work for her now.”

September 1998

Garth and Trisha have another duet, "Where Your Road Leads," on her newest album of the same name. It is released as a single in September.

They perform "Where Your Road Leads" together live via satellite from their concert in Buffalo, which is broadcast on the CMA Awards on September 23.

They also accept awards they win that night - including Female Vocalist of the Year for Trisha and Entertainer of the Year for Garth - via the remote feed from Buffalo.

December 1998

The entire year has been full of Garth and Trisha performances, so of course it ends with a Christmas program appearance on NBC.

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1999

I wasn't able to find a whole lot of information about Garth and Trisha interactions throughout most of 1999. This may be because Garth's latest world tour has finally ended, and he has some new areas of focus including the "Chris Gaines" experiment that takes him down a very different tangent, along with the decision to privately separate from Sandy in March.

It may also be that they have spent the last year being such a duo that it was naturally time for a break from that. Whatever the case, they continue on as they were before... until October when Trisha files for divorce, and everyone's eyes turn to Garth.

January 1999

On January 5, Trisha receives three Grammy nominations and The Mavericks receive one, which is highlighted in a widely-dispersed Associated Press report, including the subhead: “Yearwood does better than husband.”

Sandy is with Garth at the American Music Awards on January 11, where he and Trisha also perform "Powerful Thing" together.

Less than a week later, Robert is with Trisha on January 16 when she is officially invited to join the Grand Ole Opry.

February 1999

Nancy Jones, wife of George Jones, has recently released a book called "Nashville Wives" which features chapters on wives of big country stars. Sandy contributes to the book, reportedly against Garth's wishes. Nancy tells a reporter:

“I didn’t really have to dig. I think it was therapy for a lot of these women. I think that with Sandy Brooks, there were some things she wanted to tell. Garth told her he didn’t want her to do the book, because he thought it would come back and haunt her. She called me several times, changing her mind before she said, ‘I’m doin’ it!’”

A quote from Sandy in the book includes:

“I knew nothing of what he was up to on the road, and he knew nothing of what I was up to, and we came together and said, ‘This ain’t what we had planned for each other,’ and we refocused and realized that we are a team and that we loved each other very much, but we had gotten off track.”

In an interview with Good Morning America, Nancy Jones talks more about what Sandy needed to get off her chest in the book:

Interviewer: You even talk with some women who talk about their husband's infidelity. Even Sandy Brooks, Garth Brooks' wife. And he publicly admitted his own infidelity. Nancy: Yes, he did, and in the book it also tells how Sandy dealt with it and how he dealt with it at first when he announced it. I mean, gosh, you get on TV and announce it, it's definitely embarrassing. She dealt with it and she tells how she still deals with a lot of things out there. Just imagine being married to Garth Brooks and all the women screaming and hollering for him.

Garth's "Chris Gaines" project, which is supposed to be a lead-in to a movie, is announced in February:

Garth Brooks’ new album, a pop release that will serve as a prequel soundtrack to the movie “The Lamb," will lead off with both a pop and a country single, according to Brooks. The Don Was-produced album, which features Brooks singing as Chris Gaines, the lead character in the movie, will be called “Garth Brooks in the Life of Chris Gaines.” The idea, says Brooks, is that by the time the movie comes out next year, people will recognize the songs as well as have a constant reminder that the movie is coming. (National Post)

(Though the Gaines album is initially supposed to get released in May 1999, it is pushed back several months. It will become a joke to the general public despite the commercial success of the album. The movie "The Lamb" will never end up being filmed.)

March 1999

When Garth and Sandy's divorce is filed in 2000, the documents will state that they had been quietly separated since March 1999. It appears that in the ensuing months, the two were still closely co-parenting and weighing the future of their marriage.

In Garth's documentary "The Road I'm On," Sandy says they had grown apart due to his constant career endeavors taking him away:

"When you’re not there on a daily basis, even a weekly basis, to communicate feelings… those were some lonely times."

While publicly Garth is gearing up for the Chris Gaines project, Trisha also takes on a different career move with an acting appearance in the TV show "JAG." In an article profiling her time on the show, Trisha and Garth are quoted about each other:

"The artist I would want to work with - every day, every night - is Trisha Yearwood," Garth Brooks says flatly.

“We have always just clicked,” Yearwood said. “The first time we sang together, it was like we had always sung together.” They’ve continued to do occasional duets. Yearwood opened for Brooks last year, singing to throngs. “In Minneapolis, we had 190,000 people over nine days,” she said. (Lansing State Journal)

An article mentions that Trisha's husband and parents are there when she is inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on March 13. I cannot find anything showing whether Garth was there, but he does offer this quote:

“I’m so happy for Trisha because she gets what it means to be a member, and I’m so happy for the Opry because they’re getting the highest in class and quality in return. It’s going to be a good marriage.”

May 1999

Amid their private separation, Sandy accompanies Garth to the ACM Awards where he wins Entertainer of the Year and Artist of the Decade. While in January he was still wearing his wedding ring, in May his finger is now bare.

During his speech to accept the Artist of the Decade award, Garth says, “I’ve got to turn to my wife, Sandy, and say thank you for a wonderful decade.”

In response, Sandy mouths, “I love you.”

He then says, “As far as a partner in the 90s music-wise, Trisha, I can’t thank you any more for the friendship you’ve shown me.”

June 1999

Trisha and her husband's band The Mavericks play a fundraiser for makeup artist Joel Green, who is battling cancer.

September 1999

Robert sits with Trisha at the CMA Awards on September 22 where she is nominated for Female Vocalist (losing to Martina McBride).

October 1999

Just two weeks after the CMAs, Trisha files for divorce from Robert. It is announced on October 5:

Country star Trisha Yearwood and her husband Robert Reynolds are calling it quits. Her publicist issued a statement Tuesday saying that the couple “filed for divorce today citing irreconcilable difference.” The statement also says, “The couple asks that their privacy be respected during this very personal and difficult time.” The two married in May 1994.

News of the divorce will set off a flurry of tabloid stories and rumors surrounding Garth and Trisha, even as he works out his separation from Sandy for another year.

For Part 2 click here.

#garth brooks #trisha yearwood

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