Garth Brooks – Tops for the Last 20 Years

So, with the highest regard I can muster for John Lennon, George Harrison, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, they are not the top selling artists of the last 20 years.  Nope.  Our boy Garth Brooks (According to data released by Billboard and the Nielsen Company) is by far the top-selling artist of the last two decades. Since the Soundscan system was implemented in 1991, he's moved an astounding 68,561,000 units, some 5 million more than the the boys from Liverpool.

Here.  Let me quote that figure again:  sixty-eight million, five hundred, sixty-one thouand units.  Is there any wonder why the last 20 years can be regarded as the most successful from a country artist......ever?

As our national website, Taste Of Country makes clear, these number only cover 1991 to 2011.  Still, those are some high-octane, high-dollar numbers.  In case you're wondering the top five are Garth Brooks, The Beatles, Mariah Carey, Metallica and Celine Dion.

The next five on the list include George Strait at number 6, Tim McGraw at number 8 and Alan Jackson at number 9.

I have friends who bemoan the fact that country music has turned into such an industry.  They are more likely to look for the art and not the dollar.  But, that's simply not the way things work anymore.  County music is an industry.  Country music is a HUGE industry, and frankly, it was Garth Brooks who played a major part in making it so.

What does the NEXT 20 years hold?  Well, I think it's probably a safe bet that Garth won't be cranking out breath-taking numbers like that again.  But, it's entirely possible, even probable, that some country act or another will be in the top five again.  Stay tuned.

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