Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood: How the star couple became role models for lovers across the world
Country music power couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood require no introduction. To say that the Grammy Award-winning husband and wife duo are legends would be an understatement, they are much more than that. Such is the craze surrounding the couple that when they recently hosted a home concert, on account of being self-quarantined at home due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it caused Facebook Live to crash repeatedly as 3.4 million viewers tuned in to watch.
A love story that was written in the stars, Brooks and Yearwood create magic every time they come together for their art.
But before the two got together as a couple, they were friends and musical partners for a long time. When they first met in 1987, not only were they in the infancy of their career but also married to other people. Brooks was married to his first wife Sandy Mahl (with whom he shares three daughters Taylor Mayne Pearl (born 1992), August Anna (born 1994), and Allie Colleen Brooks (born 1996) and Yearwood was married to her first husband Chris Latham and later to Bobby Reynolds.
When she separated after five years of marriage with Reynolds, she admitted that since she hung on to the past "with my fingernails, divorce was difficult".
But even with so many things going wrong in their respective lives at that time, Brooks recalls feeling a strong connection to Yearwood in their very first encounter. "I had been married 13 months when I met her," he had said when promoting his documentary 'The Road I'm On'. "When someone said, "What'd you think when I met her?" I said, "' I felt like I just met my wife', which is weird right?"
Their timing couldn't have been more spot-on. Brooks admits that had they started their relationship during the early years of their careers amidst the hustle and glam of the 90s, neither their careers or their marriage wouldn't have survived. "I think everything happens right at the right time."
He adds that he is grateful for having met Yearwood when he did for things would be awfully different than what they are now. "If she was the mother of the children, our three children wouldn't be who they are either. They got the right amount of their mom in them, the right amount of me in them, and the right amount of Trisha's influence in them as well."
Then around 2002, when they were both out of their committed relationships and no longer in the public eye since Brooks was on a break concentrating on his daughters, their friendship took the next step - they began dating. Soon afterward in 2005, they got engaged when Brooks proposed to Yearwood in front of a crowd on 7,000 in California.
And on December 13, 2005, they got married in a small, quiet ceremony of just four family members. The secret to their long-standing marriage and successful relationship, Yearwood shares, is that the two carefully prioritize their work commitments and schedule time with each other.
"We plan our days if we're gonna be apart so that we can get back together as soon as possible." It is reported that the couple spends so much of their time together that they don't spend more than five days apart. "If I'm doing something he'll be with me, even if you don't see him, he'll be in the hotel or around," Yearwood says.
They put in a lot of efforts in their relationship and rubbish any claims that they have it easy. "People thought, well, two celebrities who are in the same business, they won't last," Yearwood had said in 2018. "I'm invested in this family, this is what I want for myself and no offence to anything else in my past, but I get it, I get it now and this is what I want. So we just earn it. Day by day".
Yearwood shares a close relationship with Brooks' three daughters too. "When I married Garth, he had three daughters, so I became a 'bonus mom'. You're a bonus mom because the girls have a mom, so I get to be another woman in their life who loves them."
Their wedding anniversary doesn't just mark them coming together - the date marks the union of their family as it stands today. So celebrations are aplenty as they also have a group anniversary with their children to commemorate the family coming together. "Our anniversary is our anniversary," Yearwood said.
The couple is now readying for their April 1, 2020, live home concert on CBS at 9 PM ET. The couple, along with CBS, hope to donate $1 million to charities dealing with coronavirus. ‘Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event’ is scheduled for December 20, 2020, and will air on CBS at 8 pm ET. The 58-years-old crooner also revealed that he will likely sign on to his Facebook page 30 minutes to an hour prior to the show so that the fans can start enjoying their performance before they switch to CBS.