It’s not an overstatement to say that Garth Brooks has had a spectacular career. Since first bursting onto the country scene in 1989, the 59-year-old musician has had over a dozen number-one hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and has sold more than 157 million albums in the U.S. alone. He also famously raised eyebrows with his alter-ego Chris Gaines and became half of a country music power couple when he married Trisha Yearwood in 2005. But this superstar’s success can also be measured by his three kids—Taylor, August, and Allie Brooks. Here’s everything you need to know about Garth Brooks’ daughters.
Garth Brooks Is A Country Music Legend
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 7th, 1962, Garth Brooks grew up around music. His mother was a professional country singer in the 1950s, appearing on the popular TV show Ozark Jubilee and recording albums for Capitol Records. While Brooks loved to sing and learned how to play and guitar and banjo at a young age, his primary focus as a kid was sports. He was very active in track and field and received a track scholarship to Oklahoma State University, where he graduated with a degree in advertising.
Brooks didn’t start pursuing a professional music career until 1985. It took some persistence, but eventually, the singer scored his first record deal. His eponymous first album, released in 1989, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and reached No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. A year later, he released his second album, No Fences, which became his highest-selling record to date. It contained some of Brooks’ biggest hits, including “Friends in Low Places,” “The Thunder Rolls,” and “Unanswered Prayers.”
During Brooks’ rise to fame, he was married to his first wife, Sandy Mahl, whom he met during his senior year of college. The couple tied the knot on May 24, 1986, and had three children during the course of their 15-year marriage—Taylor Brooks, born in 1992, August Brooks, born in 1994, and Allie Brooks, born in 1996.
When Mahl and Brooks divorced in 2001, the country singer decided to take a break from the spotlight to focus on raising his three young girls. “People said, ‘How could you walk away from music?’” he told People in 2015. “But being a dad – there’s nothing that can touch that.”
Brooks also said he wanted to be able to provide his daughters with a normal, stable family life. “They saw both their parents in the morning and both parents in the evening and for 14 years,” he explained. “That’s how we ran it because we knew it was right for those kids. If you did what was right for the kids, you were going to do what was right for you. It was simple.”
Clearly, his dedication to fatherhood paid off!
Taylor Brooks
The eldest of Brooks’ three kids, 28-year-old Taylor Mayne Pearl Brooks was named after singer-songwriter James Taylor and Hee Haw actress Minnie Pearl. She attended Oklahoma State University from 2010 until 2016, where she majored in biology and played on the school’s soccer team. Currently, she’s in seminary school at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, pursuing a master’s degree in Theological Studies.
While Taylor is known to be a pretty private person, she does pop up on her family’s Instagram feeds from time to time.
August Brooks
August Anna Brooks, 26, is Garth Brooks’ middle child. According to Taste of Country, she was born just hours after her dad won his fourth-consecutive Entertainer of the Year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 1994. While she spent some time as a student at the University of Oklahoma, she gave birth to a daughter, Karalynn, in 2013—making Brooks a granddad for the first time!
When the birth of his granddaughter was announced, Brooks’ released a statement thanking his fans for their well wishes and saying:
“Our family would first like to thank everyone for their warm wishes and sweet celebration of Baby K’s arrival. 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’. I have been amazed and grateful how the press has always respected this. I now ask that respect to please continue as this young family begins the greatest days of their lives.”
Allie Brooks
At age 24, Allie Colleen Brooks is the youngest of the Brooks’ sisters. She’s also the most well-known, following in her dad’s footsteps and pursuing a career in music. Last fall, her single “Ain’t the Only Hell (My Momma Raised)” landed in the Country Top 40.
In a sweet moment, Allie got engaged to boyfriend Jonathan Roberts on her birthday at her own father’s concert. The pair wed the following year in 2018.
Allie also made headlines last year when she was diagnosed with COVID-19. Fortunately, she had a mild case and recovered quickly.
