In 1997, Garth Brooks made history with an unforgettable show. On August 7, 1997, Brooks performed a free show at Central Park in New York City, drawing in close to one million people.
At the time, Brooks was on an undeniable winning streak, with hits like “Shameless“, “Ain’t Goin’ Down (’Til The Sun Comes Up)”, “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, and more.
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“You can hear the helicopters going over the hotel, because we’re staying right next to the park,” Brooks recalls in his 2019 A&E documentary, The Road I’m On. Brooks’s then-wife, Sandy Brooks, wanted to look out their window to see if there was a crowd, something Brooks tried to discourage her from doing.
“She gets up, and she goes, ‘I gotta see what’s happening,’” Brooks remembers. “I said, ‘Don’t tell me.’” She gets up and looks anyway, returning in tears.
“I looked at her, and I said, ‘There ain’t nobody here,’ is there?’” he recalls. “She says, ‘Garth, they’ve already opened up the overflow.’”
Brooks was joined by Billy Joel, Jim Horn, and Don McLean for the historic show. He performed 17 songs for the Central Park concert, ending with “The Dance”. He later returned to sing four songs for the encore, concluding with a cover of Billy Joel’s “You May Be Right”, joined by Joel and Horn.
What Happened to Garth Brooks’ Career After His Central Park Concert
Brooks’ Central Park Concert, dubbed Garthstock because of the similarities to Woodstock, later became an HBO special, Garth Brooks: Live From Central Park. The special earned Brooks six Emmy Award nominations, including one for Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Special. Brooks also received the Gene Weed Special Achievement Award for the historic event.
The HBO special garnered another 14.6 million views, making Brooks an even bigger superstar than he already was at the time. Later that year, Brooks released Sevens. His seventh studio album, the record includes “Longneck Bottle”, “She’s Gonna Make It”, and “Two Piña Coladas”.
Brooks has, of course, had plenty of other career milestones since his Central Park concert. But for Brooks, it’s this show that will always remain one of the biggest and most important highlights of his career. 25 years after the fact, Brooks celebrated the anniversary on a special episode of TalkShopLive.
“Time is a friend to all things good, and the Central Park Concert will forever remain a GREAT chapter in our story,” Brooks says.
Brooks’ Central Park concert remains the largest concert event held in Central Park to this day.
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