Garth Brooks Lost 50 Pounds Ahead Of Ireland Shows

Before he kicked off his sold-out concerts in Ireland last week, Garth Brooks chatted with the Irish media and told them that he lost a whopping fifty pounds in preparation for the shows. 

Garth told the packed media room, "What happened was, weirdly, at the 25th anniversary of Croke Park and Central Park, and I was sitting there looking at it thinking everyone looks the same… what is wrong with your fat a--, here we go."

He continued, "But try to remember, this is one of the things I'm going to give myself credit for. For 16 years, I was a soccer dad. Last on the list. And it takes a while to get back to the artist feel. It has taken me eight years to get back to it. And I'm the same weight I was when we played here in 97; that's what I want."

Garth, filming the historic stadium concerts over the next two weekends in Ireland, said, laughing, "This film is going to come. I lost 50lbs, and the film is going to add that right back."

When Brooks was asked how he prepared for the show, he stressed that it isn't about his appearance. He said, "What you want to do is set yourself up for the best chance of success. So, how do you get ahead of these people? Hopefully, they spend the first 30 seconds going, 'wow, dude,' and now I'm ahead of them."

Garth concluded with, "But we just want to feel good." Brooks played Croke Park in Dublin for the first time in 1994 and then again in 1997. In 1998, those concerts were part of the TV special Garth Brooks: Ireland And Back that aired on NBC. 

Fun Fact: When Garth played Ireland in the 1990s, and when he played there over the weekend (9/10/22), one of the last songs in his set was Don McLean's "American Pie," which, according to his U.S. stadium set list, he does not play in the states.  

Brooks wraps his Ireland shows this weekend with shows on September 16 and 17th.

Garth Brooks began his five nights of sold-out shows in Ireland on Friday (9/9), one day after Queen Elizabeth II passed away. Some people on Twitter are not happy about it at all, while many in Ireland are thrilled he did not cancel any of his five shows to mourn the Queen.

After Garth played his first show there over the weekend, he issued a press release back in the U.S. saying, "I can tell you this – no matter how much you know or don't know about Garth Brooks, you go to Ireland [and] it's a whole new chapter. People think they know who we are; people think they know the music. It takes on a whole different world when you hit Ireland. It's something to behold."

Brooks posted to Instagram after his first show there, "I've dreamed about this night… IRELAND, you were even better than my dreams! I'm in LOVE with YOU."

After night two in Ireland, he posted to Instagram, "What happened on The River tonight is why I play music!!!! I LOVE YOU, IRELAND 🇮🇪!!!! Love, g #GARTHinIRELAND."

Garth again posted two days later, "When we sang The Dance together tonight, I realized… As great as 2014 could have been, it could not have held a candle to 2022 at Croke Park with YOU!! I LOVE IRELAND 🇮🇪 !!!!!! Love, g #GARTHinIRELAND."

We gathered some Tweets from fans who thought he should have canceled the shows out of respect for the Queen's death and those who are glad he is playing all five nights.