The Truth About Trisha Yearwood And Garth Brooks' Marriage

What's the truth about Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks' marriage? The pair are one of country music's most famous couples with pitch perfect harmony both on and off the stage. While this duo knows how to put on a show together, they're each superstars in their own right: Brooks is a Grammy-winning, seven-time CMA Entertainer of the Year, and his three-time Grammy-winning wife is a Grand Ole Opry legend. But despite their professional achievements, marriage is, by far, their biggest accolade. Though the two first met as relative unknowns in the late '80s, their love story wouldn't begin until nearly two decades later. 

Between touring, raising a family and pursuing other interests — such as a cooking show, as in Yearwood's case — marriage hasn't always been easy. But, no matter how busy life gets, Yearwood is still in love with Brooks, and though the two aren't shy when it comes to professing their love for one another, there's a lot we didn't know about their marriage...until now! 

Garth Brooks knew Trisha Yearwood was the one when he first met her in the '80s, early in both their careers. "I felt that feeling like you just met your wife," he told The Ellen Show in 2013. But Brooks was already married and remained loyal to then-wife Sandy Mahl. 

Maybe things would've worked out differently had Brooks known the feeling was mutual. During a joint interview with Parade magazine in 2016, Yearwood confessed to knowing Brooks was the one "the minute I met him," but didn't realize it at the time.

It's not like the Brooks and Yearwood were household names, at least not yet, so it's not like they were starstruck; it was a pure, organic spark. "We hit it off," Yearwood recalled during a CMT interview. "But I had no idea he'd turn out to be Garth Brooks!" Little did the two know then that they'd not only become country music stars, but that they'd marry each other someday. 

Being the rockstar entertainer that he is, Garth Brooks proposed to Trisha Yearwood in front of thousands of people — 7,000 to be exact. It was May 2005, and the couple was at Buck Owens's Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. The pair were there to watch the unveiling of an eight-foot tall statue of Brooks, according to People. 

During the ceremony, Brooks brought his leading lady onstage — not to sing — but to see the statue up close. Afterwards, Brooks pointed out a wedding band fixed to the statue's ring finger. Then much to Yearwood's surprise, he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She said yes! "Her knees were like Jell-O," Jerry Hufford, talent coordinator for the country music venue, said about Yearwood's reaction. "She was totally stunned...It took her a while to regain composure. You could tell she'd been crying." Talk about a wedding proposal guaranteed to make you cry!

During a joint interview on Live with Kelly in 2016, Yearwood said she'll never forget that moment, and quipped: "Bakersfield is the most romantic city in the country for me."

Don't call country singer Trisha Yearwood "stepmom." In the Yearwood-Brooks household, she's the bonus mom instead. "Stepmom's very Cinderella. It doesn't have good connotations," Yearwood said on the Rachael Ray Show. "And so you're a bonus mom because the girls have a mom, and I get to be another woman in their life that loves them." That's a really wholesome sentiment!

From the looks of her Instagram page, Yearwood close to all three girls — Taylor, August, and Allie – and supports them, even in their careers. Yearwood even had Allie as a special guest on her Food Network show Trisha's Southern Kitchen, and touted her stepdaughter's musical skills in an episode teaser with the caption: "To say I am a proud bonus mom is an understatement! Allie, you are my new favorite duet partner (psst! Don't tell your dad!)"

Power couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are great solo, but they're even better when they sing together. They've performed ballads everywhere, from the CMA Awards to their home studio. Never shy to show the love and affection they have for one another, the pair often hold hands onstage, and aren't afraid to lean in for an almost kiss during especially emotional performances. 

When it comes time for a solo, Brooks and Yearwood are still not far apart. Typically, while one is on stage, the other is in the crowd. Plus, oftentimes the pair dedicate the songs to each other, like when Brooks performed "Stronger Than Me" at the CMA Awards in 2018. "It was not written by me, [but] the second I heard it, I said, 'Omigosh, that's what I'd say to Trisha if I was talented enough to write that,'" he told Extra on the red carpet, prior to his CMA performance. Yearwood, who was beside Brooks during the interview, said it's important to make your spouse feel loved, and what better way than a song? "This is a grand gesture," she admitted.

Trisha Yearwood — who's undergone a stunning transformation — and Garth Brooks like to spice things up in their marriage by cooking together, or for one another. Seeing as Yearwood is a best-selling cookbook author and host of Trisha's Southern Kitchen on Food Network, you might think she's the designated home chef. However, Brooks is pretty handy in the kitchen as well; it pays off anytime Yearwood gets home after a long day of filming her cooking show. "He's always got something made," she revealed to Access. "The only thing sexier is when he loads the dishwasher."

Brooks has even made appearances on his wife's cooking show. What a supportive husband! Yearwood actually nicknamed her hubby Gartha Stewart (a twist on Martha Stewart, who has her own show on HGTV). "He is a good cook," she told Extra. "He also gets really excited if he makes like a sandwich that looks good. He'll take a picture of it." In this situation, there's no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.

Trisha Yearwood was there for Garth Brooks following his divorce from Sandy Mahl. Brooks confessed that she helped him get through that rough patch while promoting his documentary, The Road I'm On, in New York (via US Weekly). "I just said goodbye to music, got divorced, moved back to Oklahoma and left Nashville," he said. "I was living with three strange women that I did not know. They were 8, 6, and 4." Then, in the midst of this "crash course" in the fairer sex, his "best friend showed up." That best friend was Yearwood, of course.

Years later, the married couple, who wed in 2005, faced another obstacle, along with the rest of the world: COVID-19. Brooks confessed in a virtual press conference (via People) that his daughter, Allie Brooks, tested positive for the virus. "None of us has ever seen this before," he said. "As parents like you, like me, all you do is pray your knee bones off."

Brooks and Yearwood had to quarantine as well, as they work with their son-in-law. Fortunately, everyone was okay in the end.

Trisha Yearwood feels lucky to share her life with Garth Brooks, and believes that they hit the jackpot when they finally found their way to each other. "We're with the love of our lives, and we also get to do what we love to do for a living," she shared in an interview with Extra. "As long as we can do that we're going to do that." 

It's safe to say that Brooks feels the same. Always the romantic, he said during a joint Q&A session with his wife (via KTLA 5) that he loves doing everything together with her, from raising a family to touring. "I can just be in the same room with her not doing anything she's doing, but just knowing you're breathing the same air kind of thing, knowing...she's happy doing what she's doing, that kind of makes you feel at ease," he said. Be still our hearts! We can't wait to see what else these two lovebirds, and songbirds, have up their sleeves — and we hope that it's together.