On this day (May 25) in 2005, Garth Brooks got down on one knee and asked his longtime collaborator, friend, and girlfriend, Trisha Yearwood, to marry him. The proposal took place during the Legends in Bronze concert at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. Brooks was one of the artists whose bronze likenesses were revealed. The statue gave him the final push he needed to pop the question.
Brooks and Yearwood met during a demo recording session in 1987. They were both unsigned artists at the time. They became fast friends. Years later, that friendship turned into musical collaborations. He sang backup vocals on her debut album, and she lent her voice to Ropin’ the Wind. They also regularly shared stages. However, they were both married at the time. So, they remained friends.
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In 1998, Brooks and Yearwood shared a Grammy win for their duet “In Another’s Eyes.” The song is about two married people who fall in love. In hindsight, it seems like foreshadowing.
Yearwood divorced her second husband, Robert Reynolds, in 1999. Two years later, Brooks divorced his wife, Sandy Mahl. They made their first public appearance as a couple in 2002.
[RELATED: 3 Songs to Celebrate Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s 20th Wedding Anniversary]
How a Statue Pushed Garth Brooks to Propose to Trisha Yearwood
Buck Owens commissioned bronze statues of himself, Johnny Cash, George Jones, George Strait, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Jr., Bob Wills, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Garth Brooks. According to his website, Brooks worked with the artist to create his likeness.
The sculptor told Brooks to choose his pose carefully because the statue would stand for 1,000 years. “I thought, ‘Wow, there it is. If there’s one thing in my life that I know will stand for a thousand years, it’s going to be my love for Ms. Yearwood,’” Brooks recalled. After getting the pose down, he asked for a special addition. “Can you put a wedding ring on it?”
When they unveiled the statue at Owens’ Crystal Palace venue, Trisha Yearwood immediately noticed the wedding ring on its finger. When she asked Brooks about it, he replied, “That’s why today’s the day,” before getting down on one knee.
Owens willed the stature to Brooks. Today, it stands in his Friends in Low Places Bar & Grill in Nashville, Tennessee. “I’m very excited about it. I realized that the statue is the place where I proposed to the love of my life. So, it was like, ‘Hey, let’s bring it out here, and maybe somebody might want to propose to their love in front of it out here in Nashville.’ So, it was pretty cool,” he said of having the statue.
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