Brooks has enjoyed one of the most successful careers in popular music history, breaking records for both sales and concert attendance throughout the 1990s. The RIAA has certified his recordings at a combined (128x platinum), denoting roughly 113 million U.S. shipments. Garth Brooks still continues to sell well, from the period of April 5th 2008 - September 26th 2008, he sold 277,000 albums in the U.S. - according to Nielsen Soundscan, which took his album sales up to 68,051,000 - which makes him the best-selling artist in America since 1991, well over 11 million ahead of his nearest rival; The Beatles. In the all-time chart, he is second only to The Beatles in the United States. Brooks has released six albums that achieved diamond status in the United States, those being: Garth Brooks (10x platinum), No Fences (17x platinum), Ropin' the Wind (14x platinum), The Hits (10x platinum), Sevens (10x platinum) and Double Live (21x platinum). Since 1989, Brooks has released 19 records in all, which include; 9 studio albums, 1 live album, 4 compilation albums, 3 Christmas albums and 2 box sets, along with 77 singles. Brooks is estimated to have topped 220 million units in sales of singles and albums worldwide. [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jive-talkin-why-robin-gibb-wants-more-respect-for-the-bee-gees-826116.html]
Troubled by conflicts between career and family, Brooks officially retired from recording and performing from 2001 until 2009. During this time he sold millions of albums through an exclusive distribution deal with Wal-Mart and has sporadically released new singles. In 2005, Brooks started a partial comeback, and has since given several performances and released two compilation albums.
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