- I thought a lot about what I wanted to say about Garth,
because there's so much to say.
And so all of the stats, or things
that you probably will be told tomorrow night,
or have already heard in the course
of the last couple of days,
so I'm not here to give you the stats.
I'm here to tell you a few things about,
I can't look at you, about Garth from a more personal side.
The very first time I was an opening act on a tour,
I was 26 years old and it was 1991,
and it was opening for Garth Brooks.
And he was beginning the path, already a huge star,
becoming the phenomenon that he was.
And so I had an expectation of what a big star would be,
and he just totally broke the mold.
He, I mean, I was whatever is greener than green.
And in a lot of ways,
you know, he was doing, he was, you know,
swinging from the ceiling.
This was my move.
This is still my move actually, but...
(audience laughing)
I learned how to be an artist.
I learned how to be a person.
I learned how to just really be from this guy.
He led by example.
I watched how this guy who was number one at everything,
I watched how he treated every single person
that he came in contact with,
from the guy who was unloading the truck
when we got to the gig to helping, he would do,
he could do everybody's job.
He sometimes helped focus the lights.
He would be up, like, 40 feet in the air, you know,
helping the guys.
To treating every single fan
like they were the only person in the room.
Everybody he treated with respect and kindness.
And most importantly, he treated everybody the same.
And we're in a business that often that's not the case.
And having known him for 30 plus years, I can tell you
that just, it hasn't changed, it's who he is.
I've known him a long time.
And I keep thinking, this is not in the speech,
I keep thinking, you know, he's the nicest guy ever,
like the other shoe has got to drop, right?
He's not, he cannot be this guy, but he truly is.
He was really a mentor and a teacher for me.
And if you've ever met him,
you know that this true about him.
And then I want to talk about his heart.
There's a line that we heard a long time ago
that says character is who you are in the dark.
And that's a saying that we talk about a lot.
'Cause Garth really believes that what it says in the Bible
about doing things in secret.
So it's hard to talk about his accomplishments
because he doesn't want me to.
Don't let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.
He's done a lot of things
that I'm sure I don't even know about.
He's helped countless people change their lives.
Family, friends, but also people who he doesn't even know.
One of my things I'm most proud of him for in his career
is the foundation called Teammates for Kids
that he started over 20 years ago,
that helps children all over the world, and families.
And again, he doesn't want me to talk about that.
But what I think the important takeaway for me is
that he does these things
because he just cares so much about people.
He cares about everybody.
And you can't pin Garth Brooks down.
I really want to say this.
I think some of us have an expectation.
You might think you know who he is
'cause he comes from Oklahoma.
He wears Wranglers and a cowboy hat.
And he wears them very well.
And so maybe you have an expectation of who you think he is,
but it's impossible to put him in a box or a category
because he doesn't look at life in one way.
When Ms. Allen was talking earlier today
about the third eye,
he sees beyond what's in front of him.
He sees 360.
So if you had to put them in a box, I would say,
the box is love.
He loves deeply.
And I've had a privilege of being next to him
to see him love.
He lives loud.
He lives large.
He whistles too much.
(audience laughing)
But he cares.
Most of us care about our friends and our family.
He loves his wife, but he loves so far beyond.
People say love one another.
He really wants us all to love one another.
It's his mantra.
One of our favorite movie quotes is
from Shawshank Redemption.
When Morgan Freeman's character says,
"Get busy living or get busy dying."
This guy is living.
And it's a privilege to look at the world the way he does.
I aspire to be more like him.
His intention is always love.
And if you've met him tonight and had a conversation
with him, and if at any point you were confused,
there's a lot going on in the brain.
And sometimes, I think, when he speaks,
you don't necessarily, you kind of go, yeah,
and you have that look.
If I see you, I will come up to you and help you
because I do speak Garth.
(audience laughing)
So don't be afraid. It happens to all of us.
The last thing I want to say is
I thought there would be champagne.
I think the toast is outside later.
Is that right?
I would like to be drinking some right now, but,
(audience laughing)
but when we do raise a glass, I want to say one last thing.
We have a friend who's a sea captain.
And we were having drinks one night.
And she, we gave a toast.
And when we gave the toast,
she tapped the table with her glass and then we drank,
and we said, "Why do you do that?
What was that for?"
And she said, "That's for everyone
who's not with us anymore."
And we thought that was the coolest thing.
And so we always do that.
So what I would ask you tonight,
'cause I'm sure everybody has somebody
that they would want to tap the table for,
when we do give our toast,
tap that table for that someone for you.
So tonight, without a glass, it is my honor
to toast my husband, my best friend, love of my life,
Mr. Garth Brooks.
(audience applauding)
(light piano music)