Garth Brooks On Jimmy Carter: ‘He’s Carried This Torch’

After the news this past weekend broke that former President Jimmy Carter, 98, is now in hospice care and may not have long to live, Garth Brooks talked about his friend on Inside Studio G last night (2/20).

Garthhas worked side-by-side with the Carters at multiple Carter Work Projects with Habitat for Humanity. He said, "This guy has probably done more with his post-president life – arguably – than any other president. He's carried this torch. And what he's carried the torch for is empathy, understanding, and realizing that thoughts on the other side are different from the thoughts here, but both of them are toward love. And sometimes it's just talking through it,"

He added that the former President has been carrying the torch for peace for some time, saying, "Are you going to pick it up? Are you going to be the one that picks it up? Spread love. Empathy. Spread forgiveness. Spread communication. This is what this guy is all about."

Brooks and his wife Trisha Yearwood were front and center for a week-long Carter Work Project with the President and First Lady, most recently in 2019 in Nashville, and they're already set to lead one this fall on the Carters' behalf (in Charlotte, North Carolina).

The Carter Family posted a statement on President Carter's health on Instagram over the weekend. They wrote, "After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention. He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers."

Garth Brooks is a country superstar that can command a stadium full of people in any city he plays, even though his last stadium tour is one that he says was his last. Now with his sites set on a Las Vegas "Garth Brooks / Plus One" at the Coliseum at Caesars Palace residency for the foreseeable future, Garth is celebrating his 61st birthday today (2/7).

Brooks chatted with fans on his weekly Studio G recently (1/9). He said, "I'll tell you right now, this will be the busiest year of our career." It's a big statement coming from a guy who's filled many years of his life on the road and in the studio. He added, "There are going to be so many things happening this year."

Later in the year, he and Trisha Yearwood are committed to a Habitat for Humanity building project on behalf of former President and First Lady Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. But what else does he have on tap? He does have his new downtown Nashville entertainment venue, Friends in Low Places. Brooks laughs, "This year, we get to open up, I hope."

Garth is also expecting to return to the recording studio this year. He offered, "The studio is going to be wide open this year. We're going to go in and just do a lot of things that probably never will see the light of day. But, to be honest with you, those are my favorite sessions." He added, "This'll probably be one of the heaviest years we've ever had 'cause everything's just coming around to an end or a beginning, which is cool."

We look at 30 songs that solidified his place in music history and made him one of the biggest stars to ever emerge from Nashville.