Garth Brooks Says Trisha Yearwood Offered To Take His Last Name But He Declined

During a press conference for his new radio station with TuneIn Radio in Nashville, Garth Brooks revealed that his wife, fellow country music artist, actress and author Trisha Yearwood, offered to take his last name after almost 20 years of marriage.

"[Yearwood] was sweet enough for our anniversary last year to have the documents where her official last name was Brooks," the country music singer-songwriter said. "I declined it." 

Brooks and Yearwood met in 1987 when they were recording a demo track together, and began dating after his 2001 divorce from Sandy Mahl. Yearwood was previously married to Christopher Latham from 1987 to 1991, and Robert Reynolds from 1994 to 1999.

Brooks and Yearwood married in December 2005. The wedding took place at the couple's home in Owasso, Oklahoma. Brooks' three children – Taylor (born 1992), August (born 1994) and Allie (born 1996) – were also part of the wedding ceremony.

"Jack Yearwood had two daughters: That Yearwood name is Trisha. I'd be fine changing my name to Yearwood," Brooks added. "Tradition doesn't count here. What counts is when you have two celebrities, don't have one swallow the other." 

The story came about after a reporter at the conference asked Brooks about his wife’s level of involvement in his new station. After sharing Yearwood's proposal, Brooks shared that he hopes to launch a women-centric station called BABE, wherein his wife would have more involvement. “It’s the bad a-- b----es of entertainment,” he said of the concept. “I’d love to see her heavily involved in that channel.”

In 2019, Yearwood spoke about her relationship with Brooks to Us Weekly. 

"We really have made a conscious effort since getting married to not be apart, so we've toured together. 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,” she said. “And we're not always together, but we've been married before, and we decided we don't want to be apart. So [we said] let's make an effort to make sure that's our priority and we've been able to do it."

In 2013, Brooks' daughter August welcomed a baby girl with her boyfriend, Chance Russell.

"Our family would first like to thank everyone for their warm wishes and sweet celebration of Baby K's arrival," Brooks said in a statement. "Our children's lives have always been extremely private and they have been endlessly encouraged to be their own people. We have always wanted them to be individuals and NOT be known as 'someone's daughters.'"

Earlier this week, Brooks' decision to sell Bud Light at his new Nashville bar spurred backlash from some conservative fans. Bud Light faced criticism after they tapped Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, to appear in a campaign. Despite calls for a boycott against him, Brooks doubled down on his opinion and encouraged fans to visit his bar with "an open mind".

"I think if you know Garth Brooks, no matter how long you've known him, [he's] always been inclusive. We're gonna need each other, trust me," Brooks told Entertainment Tonight. "It's like when we put this team together for The BIG 615. You're gonna need all these different talents."

"So, I think that [with regards to] diversity, inclusiveness, I think what you find is our differences are our greatest strengths," Brooks added.

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