Something big is brewing in the world of Garth Brooks, and his fans are desperate to know what.
This week, the country icon’s website was updated with the addition of a new countdown timer, which is paired with the cryptic phrase “The future is about to become history”.
As one would expect, the inclusion of the clock has resulted in a lot of discussion online amongst fans who are eager to know just what Brooks’ news will be. Currently, the clock is scheduled to reach its conclusion at 9pm AEST on Tuesday, July 7th, at which point Brooks’ announcement will be made public.
Many fans have surmised that the news has something to do with new live dates from Brooks, especially given his recent UK visit.
On Saturday, June 27th, Brooks performed at BST Hyde Park in London, England, marking his first shows in the country in 32 years. Joined by Zac Brown Band, Ashley McBryde, and others, it saw Brooks performing to a sold-out crowd of 69,999 fans, setting the single-day attendance record for the venue.
“I’m not sure what the future is, but you can bet your ass I’m coming back here,” Brooks told fans at the event, hinting towards more international events in the future.
The gig was Brooks’ first time performing outside of North America since a run of Irish dates in 2022. Notably, Brooks has rarely performed outside of his home continent over the years, with the mid-’90s being his most adventurous period.
Alongside his 32-year absence from England, this year also marks the same amount of time since his first and, so far, only visit to Australian shores, having visited in August and September 1994.
It remains to be seen whether this forthcoming announcement will be new tour dates, but it’s clear that Brooks has the appetite for it at the moment.
Other suggestions from fans have related to the discussion of new music (it’s currently been three years since his last record), or whether his music may finally be making its debut on Spotify.
Notably, those who attempt to listen to Brooks’ work on the ubiquitous streamer will find only a handful of collaboration appearances, and live records not uploaded by Brooks himself.
In 2016, he explained that he had signed an exclusive streaming deal with Amazon Music, meaning his music would not be on Spotify any time soon.
“The fact is that Amazon is a retailer as well,” Brooks explained at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville in 2023. “So you can sign your streaming deal, but part of that streaming deal is to move those physical units so the songwriters get paid.
“And people, we can talk all day that ‘Garth went on to raise his kids, what a great’— Garth did that for himself. I stick up for the songwriters because I’m freakin’ one of them! Everything I do for the songwriters, I do for myself.”
“I’m the most selfish guy you’ve ever met, okay? But if we don’t take care of these songwriters, what do you guys have to play? It’s just tough, so that’s why I love partnering with [Amazon]. So the physical comes in, and nobody’s doing physical any more. So these songwriters are still doing well.
“And I hope that songwriters want to get a Garth Brooks cut,” he added. “One, because I hope that they think that it would be cool. But two, right behind it closely, I hope it’s because they know that if you’re a Garth Brooks songwriter, you’re going to get paid.”
Earlier this month, however, it was reported that Brooks was exploring the possibility of selling his music catalogue in a deal that could be worth as much as USD $2 billion, a figure that would place it among the largest catalogue sales ever completed by an individual artist.
While no deal had been officially confirmed, it was first reported by The Wall Street Journal that Brooks has been discussing valuations ranging from the high $1 billion range to more than $2 billion with potential investors. The proposed sale would reportedly include both his songwriting catalogue and his master recordings.
Whatever the case, it looks like we’ll be waiting until next week to find out just what’s going on in Brooks’ world.
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
