NASHVILLE, Tennessee 鈥� Reigning Country Music Association entertainer of the year will perform on a date to be announced at 91吃瓜 Stadium, the first artist to ever play in concert at the iconic football venue.
The announcement was made Monday (July 9) at a news conference here that included Brooks, former University of 91吃瓜 football coach Lou Holtz and representatives from the University.
鈥�91吃瓜 Stadium has seen so many iconic moments!鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淚 look forward to bringing a new kind of crazy to the party.鈥�
鈥淩ight from the outset, I just felt that聽Garth聽represents 91吃瓜鈥檚 values,鈥� said, 91吃瓜鈥檚 executive vice president. 鈥淎nd he is the perfect choice as the first artist to perform聽in concert聽in the stadium that Rockne built. This promises to be one of the biggest events in 91吃瓜鈥檚 history.鈥�
, vice president for campus safety and event management at 91吃瓜, added: 鈥淭radition and memories are built in that stadium. It鈥檚聽an聽iconic聽place. This is an important moment, and once we decided we were going to have a concert,聽Garth聽just jumped into our minds right away. And we knew that he had to be the one.聽That was it.鈥�
Brooks will be the first artist to perform a full, stand-alone concert in the 88-year-old football stadium that has been the home to nine national championship teams, seven Heisman Trophy winners and 75 All-Americans, and has hosted several artists who performed one or two songs during football halftime shows and at the 1987 Special Olympics opening ceremony.
聽鈥淚t鈥檚 never been done before, and it鈥檚 our understanding that聽Garth聽loves to do things that haven鈥檛 been done before,鈥澛爏aid聽Lee Sicinski, the University鈥檚 associate vice president for event management. 鈥淭o bring a historic event like a聽Garth聽Brooks concert to the stadium, it just gives you goose bumps.鈥�
Brooks has been named CMA entertainer of the year six times, the most for any artist. He is also the first artist in history to receive seven Diamond Awards for the now seven albums certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) at more than 10 million album sales each, and he remains the No. 1-selling solo artist in U.S. history as certified by the RIAA with more than 148 million albums sold.
Brooks has received every accolade the recording industry can bestow on an artist, including induction into the International Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Country Music Hall of Fame and, most recently, the Musicians Hall of Fame.聽
He聽just finished the three-and-a-half-year Garth聽Brooks World Tour with Trisha Yearwood, breaking records previously held by such acts as The Beatles, Rolling Stones and, even,聽himself. The tour played 79 cities and 390 concerts, selling 6.3 million tickets, making it the biggest North American tour in history and the biggest tour in the world by an American artist. More information is available at聽.