Yukon, Oklahoma · a javelin scholarship · Nashville, 1987
Oklahoma State gave him a partial scholarship to throw the javelin. Measure everything after that from Yukon: two throws came down red.
Yukon, Oklahoma · the run-up
The Yukon water tower · 1650 West Vandament Avenue, Yukon
In 1991 Yukon painted his name on its water tower.
The tower calls Yukon the home of Garth Brooks.
A ceremony for him in the Yukon High School auditorium drew more than 1,000 people.
A working water tower: see it from West Vandament Avenue. Oklahoma’s music trail lists it as a stop.
Garth Brooks Boulevard · From NW 10th Street to West Main Street, Yukon
Yukon renamed 11th Street Garth Brooks Boulevard on 31 May 1992.
He was born Troyal Garth Brooks in Tulsa on 7 February 1962, the youngest of six children.
His father taught him his first guitar chords; his mother, Colleen, had sung on the Ozark Jubilee in the 1950s.
A public road through the middle of town. The Yukon Historical Society Museum, 601 Oak Avenue, keeps his tour T-shirts, childhood photographs and high-school yearbooks. The photograph is downtown Yukon, where the boulevard meets Main Street.
Stillwater, Oklahoma · 1981 to 1985
Oklahoma State University · Edmon Low Library, Athletic Avenue, Stillwater
He studied at Oklahoma State from 1981 to 1985 on a partial scholarship for the javelin, and ran on the track team.
He competed in the javelin while earning his degree, a bachelor’s in 1984.
He started performing while he was a student here.
He came back for an MBA and walked at graduation in 2011.
An open campus; Edmon Low Library stands at its centre.
Willie’s Saloon · 323 South Washington Street, The Strip, Stillwater
He had a regular Wednesday night here, and it is often called the place his career began.
Visit Stillwater remembers 25-cent pitchers, and Garth playing several times a week.
On his nights off he worked the door at the Tumbleweed dance hall outside town, where he met Sandy Mahl.
Oklahoma’s music trail lists the bar here as the State Room now; check before you go. The photograph is Old Central on the campus a few streets north, not the bar.
Down the street, at 316 South Washington, he worked at Dupree Sports.
The landing sector · measured from Yukon
Nine throws, all measured from Yukon. The first goes to Stillwater.
The runway is Yukon. Throw.
Nashville · 1985 and 1987
1985
His first trip to Nashville ends in disappointment, and he goes home to Oklahoma.
1987
The Bluebird Cafe · 4104 Hillsboro Pike, Green Hills, Nashville
He played its Open Mic and its Sunday songwriters’ nights before he was discovered.
Capitol had already passed on him. Then he played a showcase here, and the label’s Lynn Schultz was waiting for him when his set ended.
The founder, Amy Kurland, judged his first audition here and later asked him back. It seats 90. In the Round puts the writers together in the middle of the room, taking turns.
A 90-seat listening room in a small strip mall outside downtown. Open mic on Mondays at 6pm, audition-only writers’ nights on Sundays at 8pm, In the Round most other nights. Book through the café’s own site.
Green Hills, Nashville
The 90-seat room where he played the open mic and the writers’ nights. Open mic on Mondays at 6pm; In the Round puts the writers in the middle of the room.
See shows1989–1991
Allen Reynolds produces his first album, Garth Brooks, and tells him to sing more naturally.
No Fences makes him a star; Ropin’ the Wind becomes the first country album to enter the Billboard 200 at number 1.
Other Nashville Worlds: Taylor Swift (the Bluebird), Patsy Cline, Hank Williams and Willie Nelson (the Ryman and Music Row).
The North Meadow, Central Park · 7 August 1997
Four estimates for one crowd. Pick one.
On 7 August 1997 he played a free concert in Central Park, broadcast live on HBO. It filled the North Meadow.
Billy Joel and Don McLean joined him. 14.6 million people watched: the most-watched cable special of 1997.
6sqft says the reported figure was 750,000, that the real one was most likely far lower, and that the city has counted crowds more carefully since.
An open meadow of ball fields in the north of the park; walk in from West 97th Street.
Las Vegas and Dublin · 2000 to 2022
Encore, Wynn Las Vegas
In 2000, after his divorce, he announced his retirement to raise his daughters.
In 2009 he announced fifteen concerts a year for five years at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. The first twenty sold out in five hours.
In July 2014 he ended his retirement and signed with Sony Music Nashville.
Red flag · July 2014
In 2014 all 400,000 tickets for five Croke Park shows sold out, 100,000 of them to buyers outside Ireland.
On 3 July 2014 Dublin City Council licensed three of them, 25 to 27 July: a 2009 agreement allowed no more than three concerts there a year.
Residents near the stadium had campaigned against the licences.
He said it would be five shows or none. On 8 July Aiken Promotions said no concerts would take place.
White flag · September 2022
On 9 September 2022 he opened five Croke Park concerts over nine days. About 80,000 came on the first night, and around 400,000 were expected in all.
The stadium tour runs daily at 11am, 1pm and 3pm from September to December, €18 for an adult, the GAA Museum included. Times change on match days.
Dublin 3 · Adult €18 · Sep–Dec daily 11am, 1pm, 3pm
Inside the stadium he played five times in 2022, with the GAA Museum included. Times change on match days.
Book a tour411 Broadway, Nashville · the longest throw
He bought the building, more than 40,000 square feet on Lower Broadway near the Ryman, in December 2021.
He opened it with the Nashville hospitality brothers Benjamin and Max Goldberg, as a classic honky-tonk. Live music plays daily on several stages over four storeys, up to the Oasis on the roof.
Open 11am to 2am on weekdays and 10am to 2am at weekends. All ages until 8pm, then 21 and over; the Oasis rooftop is always 21 and over.
411 Broadway, Nashville · 11am–2am weekdays · 10am–2am weekends
His four-storey honky-tonk at 411 Broadway: live music daily on several stages, the Oasis on the roof. All ages until 8pm.
Plan a visit9 places you can visit, in Yukon, Stillwater, Nashville, New York, Las Vegas and Dublin.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working water tower: see it from West Vandament Avenue. Oklahoma’s music trail lists it as a stop.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public road through the middle of town. The Yukon Historical Society Museum, 601 Oak Avenue, keeps his tour T-shirts, childhood photographs and high-school yearbooks. The photograph is downtown Yukon, where the boulevard meets Main Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open campus; Edmon Low Library stands at its centre.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Oklahoma’s music trail lists the bar here as the State Room now; check before you go. The photograph is Old Central on the campus a few streets north, not the bar.
1650 West Vandament Avenue, Yukon
In 1991 Yukon painted his name on its water tower.
A working water tower: see it from West Vandament Avenue. Oklahoma’s music trail lists it as a stop.
From NW 10th Street to West Main Street, Yukon
Yukon renamed 11th Street Garth Brooks Boulevard on 31 May 1992.
A public road through the middle of town. The Yukon Historical Society Museum, 601 Oak Avenue, keeps his tour T-shirts, childhood photographs and high-school yearbooks. The photograph is downtown Yukon, where the boulevard meets Main Street.
Edmon Low Library, Athletic Avenue, Stillwater
He studied at Oklahoma State from 1981 to 1985 on a partial scholarship for the javelin, and ran on the track team.
An open campus; Edmon Low Library stands at its centre.
323 South Washington Street, The Strip, Stillwater
He had a regular Wednesday night here, and it is often called the place his career began.
Oklahoma’s music trail lists the bar here as the State Room now; check before you go. The photograph is Old Central on the campus a few streets north, not the bar.
Stay
A hotel in Nashville’s old railway station, at the far end of Broadway from 411.
1001 Broadway, Nashville
Nashville’s old railway terminal at 1001 Broadway, now a hotel with live music in the Bar Car. Not a Garth Brooks address; a walk up Broadway to 411. Pictured: Friends in Low Places.
Check roomsGo there
The Bluebird, the honky-tonk, Croke Park, and Nashville by tour.
Green Hills, Nashville
The 90-seat room where he played the open mic and the writers’ nights. Open mic on Mondays at 6pm; In the Round puts the writers in the middle of the room.
See shows411 Broadway, Nashville · 11am–2am weekdays · 10am–2am weekends
His four-storey honky-tonk at 411 Broadway: live music daily on several stages, the Oasis on the roof. All ages until 8pm.
Plan a visitDublin 3 · Adult €18 · Sep–Dec daily 11am, 1pm, 3pm
Inside the stadium he played five times in 2022, with the GAA Museum included. Times change on match days.
Book a tourNashville
Live marketplace results for music tours in Nashville. Check each itinerary for Broadway and the Bluebird.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
No dated shows could be confirmed for the weeks ahead: the Bluebird and 411 Broadway have music most nights.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
The first album, and the one that made him.
Garth Brooks · CD, Capitol C2 90897, 1989
The first album, produced by Allen Reynolds.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyGarth Brooks · CD, Capitol Nashville CDP 593866, 1990
The album the Hall of Fame says made him a star.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
9 of 9 places · 14 of 14 Moments
1650 West Vandament Avenue, Yukon
Yukon paints his name on its water tower, and renames 11th Street for him the next year.
From NW 10th Street to West Main Street, Yukon
Troyal Garth Brooks is born in Tulsa, the youngest of six; his father teaches him his first chords.
Edmon Low Library, Athletic Avenue, Stillwater
He goes to Oklahoma State on a partial scholarship for the javelin and starts performing.
323 South Washington Street, The Strip, Stillwater
A regular Wednesday night at Willie’s Saloon on The Strip.
His first trip to Nashville ends in disappointment, and he goes home to Oklahoma.
4104 Hillsboro Pike, Green Hills, Nashville
Married to Sandy Mahl, he goes back to Nashville, plays the Bluebird’s open mic and writers’ nights, and is signed by Capitol, which had once passed on him.
Allen Reynolds produces his first album, Garth Brooks, and tells him to sing more naturally.
No Fences makes him a star; Ropin’ the Wind becomes the first country album to enter the Billboard 200 at number 1.
Central Park, north of the 97th Street Transverse, Manhattan
A free concert in the North Meadow, live on HBO, with Billy Joel and Don McLean.
Encore Las Vegas, Las Vegas Boulevard South
He announces his retirement to raise his daughters.
Fifteen concerts a year for five years at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.
Jones’s Road, Dublin 3, Ireland
Dublin licenses three of his five sold-out Croke Park shows; he will play five or none, and all five are cancelled.
Five Croke Park concerts in nine days.
411 Broadway, Nashville
He buys a building on Lower Broadway and opens a honky-tonk named after his best-known song.
