25 Photos of Garth Brooks Young

Garth Brooks is the best-selling solo artist in the history of music: He is the only artist in music history to have released nine albums that were certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America.

He's kind of a big deal!

But we all have to start somewhere, and it wasn't always sold out stadiums, massive albums and superstar status for this Oklahoma-born boy. As a kid, Brooks often sang in casual family settings, but his primary focus was athletics.

In high school, he played football and baseball and ran track — he was even offered a scholarship to Oklahoma State University for track and field! Interestingly, Brooks worked as a bouncer at local bars at night to help fund his college shenanigans.

Little did he know, bars, auditoriums and arenas were in his future. Not as a bouncer, though — as the entertainer that everyone clamors over in 2024. Brooks starting making his mark on Nashville and the country music scene in the late 1980s and hasn't stopped since.

We all know what Garth Brooks is up to nowadays, but let's take a stroll down memory lane with 25 pictures of a younger Garth Brooks.