Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's Relationship Timeline

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Garth BrooksandTrisha Yearwoodwere friends before they were husband and wife.

The couple first met in 1987 during a demo-recording session when both were unsigned artists struggling to find a foothold in Nashville. Yearwood laterrecalled to CMTthat Brooks promised her she could open his shows once he got a record deal. Brooks kept his word, and the two spent the next 13 years as best friends and collaborators, frequently sharing the stage and appearing on each other’s albums.

In 2000, Brooksannounced that he was taking a breakfrom music to focus on raising his three daughters — Taylor, August and Allie — from his first marriage to college girlfriend Sandy Mahl. Brooks and Mahl divorced in 2001 after 15 years together, and the country star began dating Yearwood. The couple eventually wed in 2005.

From a chance meeting in an attic studio to touring the world together as husband and wife, here’s everything to know about Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s relationship.

1987: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood meet during a demo recording

When Brooks and Yearwood met in songwriter Kent Blazy’s attic studio in 1987, both stars were years away from their respective music industry breakthroughs.

“We hit it off,” Yearwood told CMT in 2009. “But I had no idea he would turn out to be Garth Brooks!”

Brooks had married Mahl a year before his fateful first meeting with Yearwood — a meeting that was confusing for the singer at the time.

“It’s strange because I felt that feeling like when you just meet your wife, but I’ve been married for 13 months,” Brooks said during a 2013appearance onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.He added that Yearwood was someone he “always enjoyed being around.”

February 25, 1998: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood win a Grammy together

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At the 40th annualGrammy Awardsin 1998, Brooks and Yearwood won the award for best country collaboration with vocals for “In Another’s Eyes,” a duet that appeared on Yearwood’s 1997 album(Songbook) A Collection of Hits. The song marked the duo’s first major collaboration, though they had frequently sung harmony on each other’s albums.

June 13, 2002: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood make their red carpet debut at the Songwriters Hall of Fame

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Brooks and Yearwood appeared as a couple for the first time at the 33rd annualSongwriters Hall of Fameinduction ceremony in New York City, where Brooks received the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award.

May 25, 2005: Garth Brooks proposes to Trisha Yearwood

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In May 2005, Brooks proposed to Yearwood at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California,perThe Bakersfield Californian. The two attended the “Legends in Bronze” event, where larger-than-life bronze statues of Brooks and nine other country icons were displayed.

Brooks popped the question after his own statue, featuring a conspicuous wedding band on the left ring finger, was unveiled, PEOPLE reported.

“All I can say is that I am so happy,” Yearwood said at the time. “What I’m feeling right now, I would wish on anyone.”

December 10, 2005: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood get married

Seven months later, Brooks and Yearwoodtied the knotat a private ceremony at their home outside Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“It’s the perfect Christmas gift to each other. We could not be happier,” Brooks said in a statement.

November 20, 2007: Trisha Yearwood opens up about her relationship with Garth Brooks' kids

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In an appearance onThe Viewin November 2007, Yearwood told the show’s hosts that she was initially “really scared” of Brooks' three children from his first marriage. Over time, however, she came to embrace her role as a “Bonus Mom” to Brooks' daughters.

“It became, ‘Okay, I’m still scared, but it’s not as bad,’ and then it became, ‘I love having them all the time,’ " she said. “You fall in love with them. You learn why people have kids.”

December 11, 2009: Garth Brooks kicks off Las Vegas residency with Trisha Yearwood’s support

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Brooks vowed not to emerge from semi-retirement until his daughters were fully grown, but casino ownerSteve Wynnmade an offer the country superstar couldn’t refuse,according to CNN.

On Dec. 11, 2009, Brooks kicked off a five-year residency at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. Brooks would go on to play a staggering 187 shows at the Wynn between 2009 and 2014 (viaThe Tennessean), with Yearwood making frequent appearances.

April 6, 2010: Trisha Yearwood publishes a cookbook with some of Garth Brooks' recipes

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“It’s not really a recipe. It’s more like a bunch of really great things thrown into a bowl,” YearwoodtoldRedbookmagazineof the dish, which consists of eggs, cheese, bacon, tortellini, hash browns and — occasionally — French fries. “You really don’t need to eat again all day after you’ve had one. It’s pretty fantastic.”

September 4, 2014: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood embark on a world tour together

To call theGarth Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwooda massive endeavor would be an understatement. Spanning three years, 79 cities and 390 shows, it remains the highest-grossing country music tour of all time, Wide Open Country reported.

“You’re looking at the luckiest, most blessed guy on the planet,” Brooks told reporters before taking the stage at the Allstate Arena outside Chicago on the first night of the tour. “I’m madly in love with her, and I can’t stand to spend a day without her.”

September 10, 2015: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood receive stars on the Music City Walk of Fame

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“If she does up and leave me some day, at least we’re still together that way,” Brooks joked to PEOPLE at a special ceremony honoring the duo. Yearwood added that the honor “definitely makes [their success] sweeter.”

“Getting to be on the same piece of pavement with this man is an honor as an artist and as a wife,” she said.

September 12, 2016: Garth Brooks says he scores “big points” cooking for Trisha Yearwood

Ahead of the release of his SiriusXM Channel, Brooks told PEOPLE that his marriage to Yearwood consists of “a lot of quiet dinners at the house.”

November 2, 2016: Garth Brooks kisses Trisha Yearwood onstage at the CMA Awards

One of the most memorable moments of the 2016CMA Awardsdidn’t come during Brooks and Yearwood’s medley of classic country duets but after it. In an apparently unrehearsed moment after the song ended, Brooks grabbed Yearwood’s face and kissed her, prompting delighted responses from the audience.

December 23, 2017: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood wrap their joint tour

After three years on the road, Brooks and Yearwood wrapped their record-setting North American tour with a seven-show run at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in December 2017.

Brooks described the tour as an “emotional rollercoaster” during a Facebook Live interview for PEOPLE Country, adding that he was “proud” of his work on the tour and sad to see it end.

November 14, 2018: Garth Brooks sings an emotional tribute to Trisha Yearwood at the CMA Awards

Yearwood admitted to being “nervous” to first hearing the tune in front of a crowd during such a big event.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” she told PEOPLE.

Brooks expected the song to connect with both Yearwood and those in the audience.

“It’s so her,” he said to PEOPLE while on the red carpet. “Everybody that loves anybody in a couples situation, no matter which one is the leader of the family, it doesn’t matter.This song is going to hit home.”

February 15, 2019: Trisha Yearwood talks writing “For the Last Time” with Garth Brooks

Among the 12 tracks on Yearwood’s 2019 album,Let’s Be Frank, 11 wereFrank Sinatracovers, and one was an original song co-written with Brooks: “For the Last Time.” The lyrics talk about the grace of — for the first time ever, finding love for the last time — and embracing lasting happiness despite losing faith.

“What it talks about is, kind of, forgiving yourself for all the mistakes you made in the past, and kind of understanding why nothing worked out because this is where I was supposed to be,” Yearwood told PEOPLE Now. “That’s us. That’s our story.”

“For the Last Time” was never originally intended to be on the album but found its way in because, according to Yearwood, “it seemed to fit,“per CMT.

June 6, 2021: Trisha Yearwood congratulates Garth Brooks on Kennedy Center Honor

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No one was more excited than Yearwood when Brooksreceived the prestigious Kennedy Center Honorin June 2021.

“He would not do it. He was really worried about me,” she said. “But he never got sick, and he was vaccinated.He took really good care of me, but he drove me crazy.”

October 30, 2021: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood celebrate the Grand Ole Opry’s 5,000th broadcast

Garth Brooks Instagram

“Celebrating the greatest family to be part of #Opry5000 with my best friend!!!!” Brooks captioned the post.

February 14, 2022: Trisha Yearwood posts an adorable Valentine’s Day message for Garth Brooks

Yearwood shared ablack-and-white photoof her and Brooks kissing on Instagram on Valentine’s Day, complete with a sparkle filter.

“Happy Valentine’s to the man of my dreams!! xo,” she wrote alongside the photo.

June 2023: Garth Brooks reveals Trisha Yearwood tried to legally change her name for their anniversary

During a press conference for his SEVENS Radio Network on TuneIn, Brooks said that Yearwood had documents drawn up for their anniversary the year before to officially change her last name to Brooks,Taste of Countryreported.

“I declined it,” Brooks said.

“Jack Yearwood had two daughters: That Yearwood name is Trisha.I’d be fine changing my name to Yearwood,” he said, according to the outlet. “Tradition doesn’t count here. What counts is when you have two celebrities, don’t have one swallow the other.”

September 3, 2023: Trisha Yearwood joins Garth Brooks during his encore at the Sugar Bowl Country Kickoff

Brooks headlined the first-everSugar Bowl Country Kickoff, an inaugural Labor Day weekend event held in New Orleans to celebrate the college football season.

Much to the crowd’s surprise, Yearwood came out during Brooks' encore at Caesars Superdome and joined him in aduet of “Shallow"fromA Star Is Born,perHello!magazine. They closed the show with a version of Yearwood’s “She’s in Love with the Boy” and Brooks' “Standing Outside the Fire.”

Brooksposted several snaps from the concerton his Instagram, including some of Yearwood. He ended the caption with, “Thank you for tonight! Thank you for my life!!! love, g #garthatsugarbowl.”

October 18, 2023: Garth Brooks says he and Trisha Yearwood “bicker” like their pals Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter

Habitat for Humanity International/Jason Asteros

The couple got to know the former president and his wife through Habitat for Humanity.

December 10, 2023: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood celebrate 18 years of marriage

Afternearly two decades of marriage, Brooks and Yearwood have seemingly morphed into the same person.

“When your husband sends you flowers and you send him flowers and the card says exactly the same thing!” Yearwood joked on Instagram when sharing a photo of two very similar floral arrangements.

February 20, 2024: Garth Brooks reveals he’s included Trisha Yearwood’s recipes on the menu at his Nashville bar

As Brooks prepared to open the doors of his new Nashville bar, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk, he filled fans in on what they could expect to see on the menu on an episode of his podcast,Inside Studio G.

He revealed that more than one ofYearwood’s recipes made the cut, including her chicken tenders. Brooks said they tested “a thousand different renditions of chicken tenders” before settling on Yearwood’s “fabulous” version.

Terry Wyatt/Getty

Yearwoodreceived the Icon Awardat the 2024 ACM Honors in Nashville.

“I was just so proud. I’m always proud of her, but to see and hear her recognized like that — and to hear people use the word ‘icon’ in the same breath as her name – just took me someplace new,” Brooks wrote on his website. “Sheisan icon. I know what a world-class talent and force she is…and we all know what an incredible vocalist she is…but I love it when others really take notice, too.”

Roe also accused Brooks of repeatedly sharing a sexual fantasy with her that involved “a threesome” with wife Yearwood,

Brooks denied the claim in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be.”

January 9, 2025: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood perform at Jimmy Carter’s funeral

source: people.com