Perhaps Garth Brooks’ definition of retirement is not the same as mine. I think of retirement as a time to lounge around on tropical islands (with no time pieces in sight) sipping on fruity libations and catching up on some serious zzz’s. Brooks meanwhile is officially retired and he’s keeping the work schedule of a half dozen entertainers.
This weekend the country music star took to the stage for five hours to play five concerts at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in front of nearly 100,000 people.
Not exactly what I would call retirement.
Brooks says he interrupted his time off for a good cause. The singer’s concerts were part of his plan to help to victims of last year’s Southern California wildfires and the firefighters who risked their lives extinguishing the blazes.
“I’m from Oklahoma,” the country music superstar told reporters prior to the marathon concert series. “I know a lot about grass fires. I know a lot about wind and fire. I’ve never, ever seen wind and fire like I saw on the television.”
Organizers say all of the money raised from the “Garth Brooks Live In L.A!” concerts will be donated to the “Southern California 2008 Fire Intervention Relief Effort (F.I.R.E.).” The fund provides money to agencies, which help victims and first responders and provide financial assistance to state firefighting departments.
The tickets for the L.A. concert, which cost $41 each, sold out in less than an hour, prompting organizers to persuade CBS to air the first hour of the first concert live, with viewers encouraged to call in and make pledges to F.I.R.E.
And while the 45-year-old singer may consider himself retired from show business (in 2001 Brooks vowed to stay off the stage and out of the recording studio until his youngest child, Allie, turned 18–she is now 8) he says his charity work will never stop.
Which is why no one should be surprised to learn that Brooks recently hooked up with Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman in Texas to spread good cheer at an area children’s hospital.
The crooner and the Dallas Cowboy-turned-television-sportscaster visited Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth to help unveil an updated therapeutic playroom for patients called the Zone Playroom, which is filled with interactive video games.
Brooks joined forces with the NHL, the NHL Players Association and the entertainer’s own Teammates for Kids Foundation to donate the space where young patients can get in a few rounds of their favorite video games instead of spending all day in their bedrooms.
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