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The New Traditionalists
After the dismal failure of the Urban Cowboy era, a generation of "new traditionalists" -- George Strait, Ricky Skaggs, the Judds, Randy Travis, and Ricky Van Shelton -- brought country out of its post-Urban Cowboy doldrums by reminding young audiences what made the music great in the first place.

Building on the astounding success of Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson and many others, Country has become the most popular radio format in America, reaching 77.3 million adults--almost 40 percent of the adult population--every week. Since 1989, country record sales have nearly doubled from $921 million to over $1.758 billion. Garth alone has sold more than 60 million albums since the release of his self-titled album in April 1989.

Country Music is embarking on a new era in 1997. Some artists think that country is headed back into the early '80s and the urban cowboy, pop-country sound. And while the whole world may have gone country, let's hope the world doesn't wake up one day to find real country gone.
The Country Music Superstar of the '90s, Troyal Garth Brooks was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 7, 1962, and was raised in Yukon, about 100 miles away from Tulsa. Country music played a role in the Brooks' household, but not a dominant one. His father, Ray, worked as a draughtman for an oil company. Colleen Carroll, his mother, was a country singer in the 1950s and had regularly appeared on Red Foley's Ozark Jubilee radio and TV shows, as well as recordings for Capitol Records. By the time Garth was born, she had retired from a professional career and the Brooks' house reverberated with as much rock and pop music as country.

After graduating from Oklahoma State University as a marketing major (where he attended on a track scholarship for javelin), Brooks had been performing in bars and honky-tonks around Stillwater, most often at Wet Willie's, for several months. Garth played six nights a week, with a different set for each bar. His sister, Betsy Smittle (who incidentally was Ronnie Dunn's bass player in the house band at Duke's night club in Tulsa during the same period), went to see him one time, and commented that he'd written some great songs. So, in the summer of 1985 he left for Nashville and a career in country music, only to return home four days later, dejected by rejection.

He signed a writer's contract in November 1987 and soon after met Bob Doyle in Nashville, who later became his manager. It was Doyle who paid the $32.50 entry fee to a Bluebird Cafe, a performance that earned him his first record deal with Capitol Records. Garth did sign to Capitol, releasing Garth Brooks in April 1989 with studio producer Allen Reynolds. The rest, as they say, is history.

Garth Brooks is undeniably the most popular country music artist of all time, in terms of worldwide following, albums sold, and awards won. The first single from his self-titled debut, "Much to Young (to Feel This Damn Old) made it to #10. But it was Brooks' fourth single that cemented his popularity. His biggest hit, one he considers his career song, "The Dance," and its accompanying video vaulted up the country and pop charts, and from then on, there was no stopping Garth Brooks. Two clips from "The Dance" are included below. (832k short version) (886k longer version)

Garth's second album, "No Fences," is the top selling country album ever, with over 13 million copies sold to date. Garth has released 5 more albums since then, adding numerous chart toppers to his resume, including "The Thunder Rolls" (from No Fences), "The River" (from Ropin' the Wind), "That Summer" (from The Chase), "Ain't Going Down ('Til the Sun Comes Up)" (from In Pieces), and an unreleased album cut from "No Fences" is also here to prove that Garth can sing the classics, too -- "Mr. Blue." (649k short version) (828k longer version)
George Strait, born May 18, 1952, in Pearsall, Texas, emerged in the early '80s as one of the best exponents of unvarnished, clean-cut country music. He told Billboard Magazine in 1981 that he "wanted to get to the point where people hear [his] name and immediately think of real country music." 19 albums and 15 years later, there is no doubt that he did just that.

Raised on a Texas ranch, George left college after a short spell, eloped with his high school sweetheart, and then joined the US Army. While stationed in Hawaii, George started singing with a country band, using the songs of Merle Haggard, Bob Wills, George Jones, and Hank Williams. After his discharge in 1975, George returned to Texas and attended Southwest Texas State University to complete his degree in agriculture. By this time, he had been bitten by the music bug and, assembling his Ace In The Hole Band, was soon living a double life, attending classes by day and playing the clubs at night.

George and his band had built up a strong following on the southwest Texas honky-tonk circuit when, through the efforts of Erv Woolsey, a one-time MCA promotions man, he landed an MCA recording contract in early 1981. His first single, "Unwound," reached the Top 10 in the country charts. Strait spent more time at the top of the country singles charts than any other performer in the '80s, with more than two dozen records reaching No.1, including: "Fool Hearted Memory" (1982), "A Fire I Can't Put Out" (1983), "You Look So Good In Love," "Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind" (1984), "The Chair" (1985), and Top 10s and "All My Ex's Live in Texas."

The 1990's were just as kind to Strait, yielding hits such as "You Know Me Better Than That" (1991), and "So Much Like My Dad" (1992). Strait reached a new plateau in his career when he took his first serious steps into the movies to star as country singer Dusty Wyatt Chandler in Pure Country, a 1992 film specially written for him. It became a major box office success and the soundtrack album, the first of his recordings to be produced by Tony Brown, became his biggest seller, and yielded a No.1 track with "Heartland." Strait's success continues today, with 1995 Single of the Year "Check Yes or No" (from his Strait Out of the Box 4-CD set). In that same set, George, with the help of Asleep at the Wheel, covers an old Bob Wills tune, "Big Ball's In Cowtown," showing his country roots. (550k short version) (1.4 MB longer version)