During a press conference regarding his TuneIn partnership, Garth Brooks revealed that he vehemently shot down Trisha Yearwood's offer to legally change her name to Trisha Brooks.
"She was sweet enough for our anniversary last year to have the documents where her official last name was Brooks," Brooks said. "I declined it."
Brooks, who lovingly refers to his spouse as Ms. Yearwood, would rather buck conventions than endorse a name change.
"Jack Yearwood had two daughters: That Yearwood name is Trisha. I'd be fine changing my name to Yearwood," Brooks added. "Tradition doesn't count here. What counts is when you have two celebrities, don't have one swallow the other."
Conversation turned to Yearwood after Brooks got asked about her level of involvement in his upcoming TuneIn radio station, Big 615. Brooks told reporters that "you're talking to Trisha Yearwood right now" because she always plays a role in his personal and professional decisions.
Brooks intends to mix old and new country — of the pop and traditional varieties — on the station as a way to both honor and continue the genre's legacy.
"I think there are some artists that outlive their label," he shared at the press event. "I want to hear the new stuff from George Strait. I want to hear it right next to Luke Combs."
The Country Music Hall of Famer sees the subscription-free station with a global reach as a means to share different interpretations of what the term "country music" even means with a broad audience.
"If you're my age, you watched rock 'n' roll lose its grip to where it's going," Brooks added. "We can't lose country music. We just can't."
Brooks wed Yearwood on Dec. 10, 2005 at their home in Owasso, Okla.
