How and why is Garth Brook the second best selling music artist in the USA?

**Wild Ranger** · 05.26.21, 06:37 AM

After The Beatles Garth Brooks is the second best selling music artist in the USA, where he has sold 150 million albums. So it means he was enormously commercially successful. I don't mind him and I haven't even heard more than three or four of his songs, but this is very surprising to me.
How and why? Your opinions?

**Dave's Dreidel** · 05.26.21, 06:42 AM

If you can walk the line right, and not alienate your country die hard's, pop country is a lucrative line of work.

Just ask Shania Twain.

**billy007** · 05.26.21, 06:43 AM

no accounting for taste. How folks picked his records to buy over say George Strait or Alan Jackson, I do not know.

**evhintexas** · 05.26.21, 09:48 AM

Most people who listen to Garth also listen to Alan Jackson and George Strait...
Friends In Low Places resonated across this area because no matter how successful someone was--they had a friend in low places....That bullshit was played in the bars over and over every night for years and to this day it is still a huge party song for everyone....I am a die hard metal head and have been partying to that damn song since it came out and I think Allan Jackson totally stopms on Garth-O-Boy....lol

**billy007** · 05.26.21, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by evhintexas

Most people who listen to Garth also listen to Alan Jackson and George Strait...
Friends In Low Places resonated across this area because no matter how successful someone was--they had a friend in low places....That bullshit was played in the bars over and over every night for years and to this day it is still a huge party song for everyone....I am a die hard metal head and have been partying to that damn song since it came out and I think Allan Jackson totally stopms on Garth-O-Boy....lol

they may listen to 'em, but they obviously don't buy their records in the same numbers as they do for Garth!

**MD 5150** · 05.26.21, 10:04 AM

Originally Posted by evhintexas

Most people who listen to Garth also listen to Alan Jackson and George Strait...
Friends In Low Places resonated across this area because no matter how successful someone was--they had a friend in low places....That bullshit was played in the bars over and over every night for years and to this day it is still a huge party song for everyone....I am a die hard metal head and have been partying to that damn song since it came out and I think Allan Jackson totally stopms on Garth-O-Boy....lol

I am also a die hard metal fan and very guitar driven. Alan Jackson does have that older sound, just wish he would put the guitar prop down. I don't think I've ever seen him play a full song on guitar, maybe not even one quarter of the song. Garth is very fluent on guitar and can hold his own acoustically.

**CaboChris** · 05.26.21, 10:25 AM

I went through a country phase in the early 90's because of a girl. Saw Alan Jackson in his prime. That damn Chattahoochie song. I still know the lyrics to this day. Saw Wynonna Judd too. I actually wore a Wynonna concert t-shirt around town. The gayest thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

That shit was HUGE back in the day.

**edwardv** · 05.26.21, 10:34 AM

I got talked into a 2 day country fest in Atlanta by a gal in about 2000. All the heavy hitters where there. Never been to one since.

**atomicpunk5151** · 05.26.21, 10:57 AM

CROSSOVER!!! x one billion. He appealed to almost every fuckin body in the USA in the early 90s. Except for a few here..lol. Dude had Michael Jackson type crossover.

He got the country audience obviously.

He also got the rock audience with the huge stage show. Big KISS/Rock influence with the huge stage show.

Does ballads, ladies like him.

City folks crossover... 1997... NEW YORK CITY.. CENTRAL PARK. Over 1,000,000 fans in attendance at the show. Insane.

WILD RANGER... Garth is HUGE in Europe also... how did you miss this???? Garth/Management deletes most all the youtube footage.... but he plays HUGE shows in Europe as well.. STADIUMS!

**Daisy Hill** · 05.26.21, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by billy007

no accounting for taste. How folks picked his records to buy over say George Strait or Alan Jackson, I do not know.

Garth is the hardest working man in country music. He took a bunch of time off to raise his girls and then came back and worked the hell out of it.

The guy was so so HUGE in the 90's so his record sales back then were really running up the lead.

But he still sells records and has a loyal fan base who he treats like they are his best friends. I have never seen anything like it.

The way he uses social media particularly facebook? He could give a master class to bands on how to do it the right way. He was late to the facebook thing because of the time off and once his daughters got him to do it, people made fun of him for his first post where he dramatically gave a high energy testimony to how he was going to use facebook in the best way possible and give his fans the best most interesting content he could

It was a little over the top but damned if he didn't do it.

He gives backstage tours as he arrives to venues before shows, he does live performances from what he calls "Studio G", lets people look in on sound checks, "hey you wanna see my tour bus?"...he takes fan questions on facebook live. He gives access to early sale tickets, gives away tickets, he pops on there regularly just to have a chat...and sells merchandise...he does contests and promotes his appearances and brings in Trisha Yearwood for chats and performances

He came on to facebook live about an hour before his CBS live show and gave his fans a preshow. It was nuts

The guy has mastered how to use facebook to connect with your audience and they just eat it up. His fans are LOYAL and he rewards them for it

sigh unlike some other band

**evhintexas** · 05.26.21, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by MD 5150

I am also a die hard metal fan and very guitar driven. Alan Jackson does have that older sound, just wish he would put the guitar prop down. I don't think I've ever seen him play a full song on guitar, maybe not even one quarter of the song. Garth is very fluent on guitar and can hold his own acoustically.

Oh yeah, the man can play....Garth is more of a rocker than Allan Jackson will ever be. George Strait is still huge in Texas. Sells out the Rodeo every time he plays...It seems to me that Garth has a good blend or rock and country that appeals across the board...

**I Coulda Hada VH** · 05.26.21, 12:46 PM

**JUNGLE DRUMMER** · 05.26.21, 08:53 PM

I like some country, but Garth sucks.

**track 5** · 05.26.21, 09:26 PM

In Texas, GS is the shit. I roughly like country . LOL. No way t5 you're a Cowboy. You fuck with GS or Willie, homes is getting a beat down.

Say man what song you rocking....Van Fucking Halen...and SRV. No Texas country? Nope sorry. I dig it, but don't rock it. Out.

Forgot to mention I saw a Willie Nelson concert that fucking kicked all kinds of ass. Fucker played two hours and felt like he just wanted to play more. And GS, fucker kicked ass as well. But I run VH. Out.

**vanCherone** · 05.27.21, 09:58 PM

Some of you guys underestimate the massive country buying audience in the southern states. It’s more than the rock and rap buying audience combined. There are more people in Texas than half the countries on earth, including Australia.

Remember when Roth’s solo albums started slumping and he did Your Filthy Little Mouth and the duet blatantly namechecking Travis Tritt in the intro? He was trying to appeal to that market.

Shania’s sales are huge too. Get those pop country crossovers and you have the mammoth country audience plus the pop audience.