Who Is Garth Brooks' Mother, Colleen Carroll?
Any country music fan is sure to know the name Garth Brooks. Not only has the superstar sold more than 135 million copies of his "Man Against Machine" album, beating out the sales of a superstar like Elvis Presley, per Rolling Stone, but he's also the only artist in any genre to have nine Diamond-selling albums, which is three more than the legendary Beatles, according to The Country Daily. With accolades like that, the singer-songwriter has truly cemented his status among the greats in the music industry.
Garth Brooks got his start in the music industry way back in 1989. The year proved to be a good one for the rising artist when his first self-titled album reached No. 2 on Billboard's Country Albums chart and he earned his first No. 1 hit with his second single "If Tomorrow Never Comes," per Taste of Country. Ever since then, the Oklahoma native has been riding high, having earned two Grammy awards and several more No. 1 hits throughout his impressive career.
Turns out, Garth Brooks may owe a lot of his worldwide success to his mother, Colleen Carroll, who was actually a renowned singer herself.
Garth Brooks' mother was also a country singer
Looks like the apple doesn't stray too far from the tree in the Brooks family. Garth Brooks probably got some of his singing chops from his country-singer mother Colleen Carroll, as mentioned in the Netflix documentary "Garth Brooks: The Road I'm On" (via Southern Living). Colleen became a Nashville name when she signed to Capitol Records in the 1950s. Her limited discography includes the hillbilly stomping tunes "No Tellin'" and "Blue Bonnet Waltz." She also performed on the '50s live stage show, "Ozark Jubilee" alongside the likes of Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
Thanks to Colleen and Garth's father, Troyal, music was seemingly instilled into Garth and his five siblings at a young age. Garth shed some light into his family's musical beginnings in a 1994 interview with Playboy (via Wide Open Country). "Friday and Saturday nights at the house, Jerry played guitar, Jim played the harmonica, Mike played guitar, Betsy played guitar, and, of course, Dad played guitar," he shared. "Mom sang her butt off, Dad sang, Betsy sang, Jerry sang, Jim sang, Mike sang. Kelly and I played the wax comb."
Colleen Carroll's musical talents live on
Although she was making her mark in the country music world, Colleen Carroll would ultimately put her music career in the backseat in order to raise her family. Her last foray in the music industry would be the duet titled "My House," she performed with her daughter, Betsy Smittle, on her 1994 album "Rough Around the Edges." Sadly, five years later, Colleen died from throat cancer, but she was able to see her son launch into musical stardom, per Wide Open Country.
Colleen's musical legacy would continue to live on through her son Garth, but also through her granddaughter and namesake, Allie Colleen Brooks. Garth's youngest daughter recently proved just how talented the Brooks family is when her single "Ain't the Only Hell (My Momma Raised)" hit No. 30 on the Mediabase charts, per Southern Living. Of course, no one was that surprised by Allie's career choice. "For me, music has always made sense, it's always been good," Colleen told ET in April. "I just knew I was going to sing for the rest of my life and then I think as I got older it was just like, 'No, that's the only thing I'm also going to do is sing for the rest of my life.'"
With Garth now considered a country music legend, and his daughter slowly following in his footsteps, Colleen has undoubtedly passed on her musical talents through her family.