>> larry: tonight music superstar garth brooks.

much just to hide my gut. but, yum, when you get out there, it's just you and that >> larry: great to welcome back after too long an absence, the brilliant garth brooks. the grammy-winning country superstar. he has sold more than 128 million albums. he's the number one selling solo artist in the united states' history. and he currently headlines at various times a series of shows at the beautiful encore theater at the wynn in las vegas. he'll next perform in nashville for their flood relief shows, and then be back at the wynn in january. when you hear that, number one selling solo artist, does that flip you?

>> oh, yeah. i mean, it's kind of odd to hear your name with that. but i think that's more of a reflection of the audience i get to play for. i'll put the country music audience up against anybody as far as numbers, size, quality of fans. that's where it's at. you're lucky if that's your bunch. >> larry: why are they that way? >> it's really cool, man. they'll give you record sales that can make you stand shoulder to shoulder with the greatest names that ever played in music. at the same time, they want you to be the guy next door and the guy you grew up to be. so it's -- it's pretty easy to be there. >> larry: do you ever look at yourself and say why do i -- why do i affect so many people? why do i connect so well? >> when i was just starting out,

arsenio hall had an interview, and he asked himself that, why me? why? and he said what i learned was, stop asking why, and just get to work. because your time is only going to be for a little while. do all you can in that window and then move on and quit asking yourself why. god knows. i don't know. because there's people every day in that town and you know that town. you know nashville, there's people that are ten times more talented than me, singer, song writer, but for some reason you get the ball and you run with it. >> larry: come on. you believe there are people ten times more talented? >> i live with -- well, i'm married to one of them. >> that's a thousand times more talented than me. and it's just -- so i don't know why that you get selected. but all i know is, be thankful and go out and have fun and do your best to represent your family and your music. >> larry: okay. you're on top of the world. and in 2001, you give up performing. essentially announcing a kind of retirement. >> i don't know how else to say it. i'm here to announce my retirement. it's -- it's a thing that i feel good about. >> larry: how old were you? >> i don't know. 2001, i was almost 40. >> larry: why?

>> well, sandy and i were getting a divorce. and i couldn't depend on sandy to carry my load for me anymore. we had three children, and the three children were just starting to be that form thing, you know, where they're really starting to be their own person, they're starting to ask questions like, hey, where's dad? and so part of our agreement was that i would retire from music, and we would stop touring and we would move back to oklahoma, where sandy is from. >> larry: you were getting divorced. >> yeah, because the many thing -- you can stop being husband and wife, but you don't stop being mom and dad. you can't. because these babies, they didn't ask to be brought in the world. you brought them in here. they're your responsibility, and you -- you set with them and you raise them to a point to where you kind of let them go and they do their thing and you've got the rest of your life to then go do whatever it is you're looking for. >> larry: so what did you do when you were retired? just be a father?

>> went to a lot of soccer games, yeah. i was a soccer mom. and still am. you know, the most important -- we were talking about this the other day. the most important days, more than any grammy award thing or anything, is the day that you're responsible for snacks. after the game. >> larry: that's right. oh, yeah. >> these kids look at you like nobody has ever looked at you before, because that's your role and that's very important. >> larry: how much did you miss the stage? >> you know what? i missed it a lot, but to tell you the truth, i think i would have missed it more if i didn't find out like that, like everybody does, that nothing is better than being a parent. nothing. nothing brings you more joy. nothing makes you laugh harder, cry harder. it's the greatest lift and the biggest heart ache you'll ever have. >> larry: more painful, too. >> amen. but that makes sense. the good things should be really high, and the good things should be really low. >> larry: but what about the times you had listened to music

or watch a performer on television? >> well, my hardest thing, and i see a lot of artists go through this. my hardiest thing was to let go. to be happy for everybody and just to enjoy. go back to being what you were before you were an artist, and that was just a fan. somebody who went on the radio and pushed buttons like everybody else and stopped on things you loved and went past the things you didn't. and that was tough. but that was fun for me to get back there, because now i think i look at the music difference a lot different than if i wouldn't have left. >> larry: did people come coming to you to perform? >> yeah, thank god. it was nice to be asked. >> larry: so you weren't forgotten. >> no, not at all. when we first started this in 2001, everybody rolled their eyes, retirement, you know, retirement. and then it got to the point where people were going, yeah, retired. they started coming up to you going, dude, are you ever gone a -- and that felt good, you know? but it's how we are in our world. we'll say things, and then

things will change. and this was very important for me to stay with it. and it's still very important for me to stay with it. my first year-out of retirement this year, working for wynn and doing other stuff also took the ceiling off my head to say no. so i said yes way too much this year. i've been gone way too much this year. and we still have two children left in high school, one is in college. but we still have two children left in high school. i, along with sang sandy, have a job to finish. and that's getting these kids off to school. so this next year, we're going to curb it back, we're going to go from three days in vegas down to two days, because i've been gone from home too much. >> larry: is their mother still involved with them? >> very much so. every day, we exchange the kids at 6:00 every day. that's the deal. so if i have the babies in the morning, they go to school, and at 6:00 -- because that was usually soccer practice, then after soccer practice, they go home with their mom.

and whichever parent doesn't have them that night, they come by and pick them up for school in the morning. >> larry: how close do you live to your ex-wife? >> i don't know. probably a five iron for tiger woods. it's close. and it's -- >> larry: how does your current wife deal with all of that? >> wonderful. the town. that's the -- that's the secret. this is sandy's hometown, where she grew up. so i was really worried how they were going to treat miss yearwood. they treat her like a queen. >> larry: what town? >> it's in between -- it's north of tulsa in between owe wasso and clairemore. great two towns. and they -- all three of us are always together. we're always together at every soccer game, every track meet. so -- and i would never wish divorce on anyone. with that said, three kids, and three parents. worked out pretty good. >> larry: would it bother you if sandy remarried? >> no, no. because you want her to be

happy. that's all you want. so -- but the thing is, what -- what you find with people is before you can share yourself with someone else, you must find out who you are, and love who you are. and sandy is right in the middle of that right now. she is starting to find out who she is, because she went from her mom and dad's house to our house. she never had that time to find herself. and in this time, in this great point in her life, and she is prettier than she has ever been, and she is more joyful than she has ever been, she is finding herself. and the person she is finding, she is liking and so am i. >> larry: the extraordinary garth brooks. we'll talk about how steve william got him to come back. we'll talk about his wife with his terrific wife, trisha yearwood. all coming up.

i've got friends in low places where the whisky drowns and the beer it chases my blues away and i'll be okay i'm not big on social graces think i'll slip on down to the oasis oh, i got friends in low places >> larry: truthfully say i've never known anyone like him. he's garth brooks and he's back on the scene and the scene is better for it. how does steve wynn get you to come out of the dark? >> i was looking for someone to join in philanthropy. i was going to put together a super board for the charity, a teammate's charity that deals with professional athletes. and i was looking for a way to get ahold of him. bob doyle, my manager calls and

says, hey, steve wynn is looking for you and i'm thinking, here it is, divine intervention. and so i think i know why he's looking for me, like other people in his field have looked for me before to come out of retirement and play music. i wasn't going to do it, but it would be a great window for me to open the philanthropy options with him. so the plan was, i would get steve wynn to give me a lot of money for my charity, while letting him down easy to say i'm not going to come out of retirement, i can't play your place. and how it ended up was, he never gave me a dollar for charity and now i work for him. so it's just -- >> larry: i know steve very well, and he's very persuasive. >> he is. but he's a very, very, very nice man. >> larry: why didn't he give you a dollar for the charity? >> oh, he's got so many things going himself and you know him, he's very head-strong, believes in what he believes in, and he knows our charity is fine

without him. >> larry: what does your charity do? >> it's teammates for kids, deals with professional athletes. i bet you one out of every four guys that comes to play belongs to charity. and they pledge for doubles, singles, home runs and our job is to triple the money and 100% of the money goes to the kids. i think that's why the athletes like it. >> larry: underprivileged kids? >> we focus in three areas. education, health and since the majority of our children are in the inner city areas, that's our third place. >> larry: what does steve say to get you to come back to the states? >> steve -- you know steve. he's very intelligent. probably one of the sharpest men i've ever been around. and steve took about five minutes to hear my story of -- because he asked me, what do you do and all this stuff. and he says, oh, i know how to do this. he says, we can't screw up your family life. >> larry: so -- >> first thing out of his mouth was not money.

he says, we can't screw up your family life. he says the first thing we have to do is get you a plane. and i'm like, okay, you've got my attention now. and so that plane is like a car. we're two hours difference in time line, so we leave tulsa at 4:00, get in vegas at 4:00. so you leave a soccer game at, you know, 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, get to vegas at 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. >> larry: that night. >> yeah. >> larry: what do you do saturday? >> what's that? >> larry: work friday night. >> work friday night. >> larry: what do you do saturday? >> if the girls have something going on, we leave friday night to wherever they're going. opening weekend in vegas, they had a tournament in memphis. so we landed about 7:30 before the show, they played at 8:00, pulled up right when they were kicking off. and with every win then we get to advance, they played until about 4:30 that night.

we got on a plane, got back. i was running right through the dressing room, didn't even get to do makeup, they through on, garth brooks, bam, the show starts. two shows on saturday, and made the final sunday. so we had to fly back and do the finals and go back and do the sunday night show in vegas and then get home just in time to take them to school monday. and then i went to sleep for about a month. after that. >> larry: you never missed the girls. >> yeah, you try not to. now, you do every now and then and it breaks my heart. they have indoor season, which a lot of them play on friday night. which i don't know who made that schedule, but they didn't ask me. >> larry: how often do you work at the wynn? >> about 15 weekends a year, so it's not bad. my god, you said work. that's a funny word to use. >> larry: "larry king live" cameras got a chance to visit backstage before the show last weekend. watch. i've got friends in low places where the whisky drowns and the beers it chases all the blues away >> it's gonna be good. >> 27th anniversary.

>> garth rocks! >> we love you, garth! >> typical backstage. this is nicer than most houses i've ever been in right here. not vegas as much as wynn. he does everything top shelf. i mean, a-1. that's what he does. it's a running joke in the show that most people come here not knowing what to expect. and that's really weird, because when i walk out there, i don't know what to expect either. and it's not a lie. everything just goes from a flip of a coin. >> best ever! >> my god, that was the best frickin' concert i've ever been to. >> seeing garth brooks live, priceless! >> i would like to just spend five minutes alone with him. >> reba mcintire was in the audience. ronnie dunn was in the audience. >> when garth and trish were lookinging into each other's eyes and they were practically acapella and reba was doing her trademark things and crying. what an experience, you watch

reba mcintire cry over garth and trisha. it was fantastic. >> larry: having the pleasure of being in that audience, one of the great shows i've ever seen. >> thank you. >> larry: how did you get the idea to do it with yourself, period, you and a guitar? >> when we retired in 2001, the band was gone. so it was just me. and kind of reverted back to a place called willie's in oklahoma state university when i was going to school there. and that's where my music was born and so kind of went back to willie's, just playing other people stuff, showing people what you were raised on and then going back and showing them how that influenced the music that you're playing and writing today. >> larry: and then you bring on your wife for a couple numbers. >> tell you what. it's like the ace in the hole, you know, kind of thing. they'll get to a point where they're just about to hang me. i'll introduce her, and then everything is fine again. >> larry: the beatles, by the way, are now on itunes. but not garth brooks. we'll ask him why.

don't go away.

in another's eye i'm afraid that i can't see this picture perfect portrait that they paint of me they don't realize and i pray they never do because every time i look i'm seeing you? ing ing you? in another's eyes >> larry: did you think of hiring a band? i mean, this is a big place. it's the encore, the wynn?

one man, standing on a stage, alone? did you think maybe we'll put together a band? >> i just came to sound check the room, basically, so i knew i just needed me to sound check the room to see if i liked it. and, again, this was all at the same point when i was going to tell him, no, thank you. but when you play the room, oh, my god, that encore theater was built for sound, you know? it's danny ganza's theater. this thing was built for an entertainer. >> larry: i worked it. >> okay, so you know. most of the places i play are for basketball. or hockey. so sound is kind of high on their list, but not the most important thing. this room, you really don't even need mics. you sit and talk to the people, they talk to you. you fall in love with the room, and he saw that show, and he said, okay, i want to do it. i said, well, whoa, let me bring the band, you'll love the band. so we brought the band out there, played and had a great time. and at the end of the show, he goes, i get the band, but i get just you more. and i said, can i ask why, and he said because there's no other show like it.

it was pretty cool. pretty naked, but honest and fun. >> larry: it is a naked show. and you dress whatever you wore during the day, right? >> again, coming in from a soccer game and you don't have time to change. and you kind of be -- again, that audience let's you be who you are. >> larry: a story i've never told before. my wife sang that encore and she is a pretty good singer. >> very. >> larry: and she was putting together an album and wound up with willie nelson. a great song called "i live." you like willie >> yes. >> larry: we called you. and i'll never forget this call. and i said garth, would you like to do a tune with shaun? and you said, i would do anything for you, but i will never, ever sing a love song with anyone but my wife. >> i just never have. i don't know what the future -- >> larry: i was so impressed with that. >> i just -- she's kind of -- she's kind of -- you know, we were counting it up the other day. i think i've cut maybe -- there's been 100 some -- 102

garth brooks songs recorded. she has sang on 77 of those songs. you know, we've known each other for 20 -- god, 24 years now. and she's my best friend, and -- and you talk about -- i see pictures of her coming out of the break and i've got to tell you that this is just a woman that age is a friend to. because she gets prettier and cooler and funnier. >> larry: garth has been married to trisha yearwood for almost five years. let's take a look at how that started. garth was with her in front of 7,000 people, bakersfield, california. watch.

>> the three days my three girls from born and that day right there were the best days of my life. >> larry: did you think about it a lot that day? you knew what you were going to do. >> they were unveiling statues at buck owen's place and they for some reason they had picked like the top whatever men in country music and for some reason we were confused enough to be in that group. and so when we were making the statue, i already had the ring. and i said -- and i put the ring on for the statue mold so that this ring is on that statue. because they said, this thing is going to last for 200, 300 years. and i thought that's the way to ask. because when they pointed up and said these things are going to last 200 or 300 years, there's the ring. and it was good, i'm so glad she said yes. i would have been pretty embarrassed. >> larry: we'll be back with garth brooks after this.

up to 16 inches of wind driven snow are predicted through monday with visibility just about nonexistent. major airlines are preparing for the worst. continental is canceling up to 250 flights, american is canceling 40% to 50% of flights at key airports. before the storm heads north north, it's delivers a white christmas to the south. an inch of snow in atlanta, the first white christmas in 128 years.

today president obama calls the bombing in pakistan an affront to all of humanity. the victims were lining up at a food distribution center. at least 90 other people were hurt. a taliban spokesman re denies reports that the bomber is a woman. i'm martin savidge at the cnn center now back to "larry king live." sometimes i thank god for unanswered prayers remember when you're talking to the man upstairs just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he doesn't care some of god's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers >>

very cool. >> larry: back with garth brooks. okay, now you're back. what's it like? >> you mean playing music? >> larry: no, is it different than the past? >> the business has changed, definitely. >> larry: how is the business? >> well, the business has went totally digital which is new for us. because we have done everything, everything in our career we have done on tape, analog, everything. even when the whole world was going digital in the '90s, we stayed on tape. now you can't even find tape anymore, so the world has gone digital and that's hard to keep up with, because it moves fast. >> larry: why do you not go on itunes? >> itunes. first of all, know that i have traveled to itunes on a number of occasions, all the way up to eddie and talked with him, just like this. conversations got very heated. there's a lot of love in the room, because they're good people. but they're business people. and itunes saw an opportunity -- >> larry: steve jobs, right? >> yeah, and i never spoke to

steve. eddie is the guy that runs that place, and i think eddie represents them well, and eddie represents himself well. good people. they sell ipods. that's what they do. so they can talk all day that itunes is a store for music, but itunes is a marketing arm of the ipod. so they sell singles. that's what ipods do. and so i asked them, i just want album only. i don't want singles. because you make an album for a reason, and that album is a reflection of who the artist is at that time. and what i love about albums, let's take no fences, for example, for us, friends in low places and thunder rolls in. but it also has a song called "wolves" on it, that's way too not commercial for radio. but changes people's lives when they hear it. i think that's important, too. so the whole thing comes out as a piece. i want it as a piece, they won't. they won't cut it up.

and so my thing is, when they do album-only and they do variable pricing -- they shouldn't tell me what i'm going to price it. i'm going to tell them and they're going to sell it and if somebody wants it, they do, if they don't, they don't. that's a big change in business from retail to digital retail. >> larry: are you very involved in the business end of your business? >> yeah, i think so. >> larry: stay on top of it. >> you put your faith in your people. bob dole, kerry o 'neill, rusty jones are the three guys that we've been together since day one. and they do business, law, management. and it's important. you listen to them. but at the end of the day, it is your decision. >> larry: you have a great pr person, too. >> nancy. i would put up against anyone. because it's very rare you find people like this. nancy is all heart and soul. god help you if you cross her, though. >> larry: what's her full name? >> nancy seltzer? >> larry: give her business. she needs it. >> she is a great pr person, but don't let her fool you. she's very smart business wise. >> larry: very loyal to you.

>> she's been very sweet. i would die a thousand deaths for her and she has died a thousand deaths for me. >> larry: are you hard to represent? >> i think so. >> larry: because is this. >> well, i think because there is a fine line being between an ass and standing up for what you believe in. being an ass because you can make that decision or you think it's right even though the whole current is going everywhere else, you're the last guy standing. you know, you had mentioned itunes and you had mentioned digital. i had leaned heavily on the fab four that they hadn't gone digital. and now that they have -- >> larry: the beatles are digital. >> it feels -- it feels like you're the only guy out here standing for what you got. >> larry: are you bending? >> no. but i've got to tell you. because i don't know how in the world you get this done. but i would love to talk to paul or somebody that was in on this decision and see when they're thinking. >> larry: you can't reach paul mccartney? >> you know, i just never have

been a guy that feels like i'm comfortable picking up a phone and calling a musical god, an icon and a world figure like that. because i know the guy is busy. but i would love to know. >> larry: i think we could arrange for paul to call you. >> you know what, i would take you up on that. and i -- you know, try and represent myself well as a businessman and a musician with him. but i would love to know. >> larry: i think we'll make that happen. >> thank you. >> larry: is it more fun now singing by yourself? >> no, no, no. >> larry: still miss the land? >> oh, my gosh, when you've got palmer and mattingly with you and gant, these guys, it's a blast. and they're so much better than i am at everything and you get to be part of a group. it's -- it's like -- you know, the closest thing i can do to is a sports team or a military unit. you go out as a group, and it's you and the guys against the world. and you go out and you play. and it's the greatest feeling in the world. >> larry: back with more of garth brooks. what was it like opening night, trying something you have never done before, alone with a guitar. don't go away.

i'm just a singer of songs >> you, i'm punning you right now. >> you can arrest me. but i can take you to a city >> we all just went to the floor and hugged each other and cried. tell you how he lived and i can tell you -- >> if i see something sagging ask dragging, i'll get it nipped, tucked and sucked. mighty king of kings yes, i do it with the songs that i sing >> will you walk into my clothes closet? because it's dark in there.

it's my life, better left to

chance i could have missed the pain but i'd have had to miss the dance >> larry: we're back with garth brooks. all right, now, this was an experiment of a kind. no band. you've got to be pretty big to do this. guitar. stand on stage, tell stories. it's almost an autobiographical. so it is an autobiographical show. garth brooks from childhood up. what was opening night like? >> it was scary. i describe it as being naked outside and the temperature was very cold. if you know what i mean. you're exposed. but look who you did it with. you did it with a guy who truly believed in your talent, and you did it in front of the people that have given you the clothes on your back and the roof over your head. they don't want you to fail. it was like walking into the pool of the perfectly warmest

water. >> larry: so you have the audience before you come on, don't you? do you have a bomb? >> yeah. >> larry: you have bad shows? >> but when you do, the tumblers are clicking because you're learning. because you sure don't want to feel that way again. so when things aren't going well, instead of just falling apart, start learning, figure out. and those are also the great nights to try new things. you're dying anyway. try it, you know. >> larry: and you still die even though they love you and they want you and -- >> well, here's what we originally started talking about in this conversation, the country music audience. they want you to be the regular guy. and the regular guy is not a flawless person. you know, no offense to journalism, but in the last three or four decades of our existence, people, we have forgotten that our heroes are human. if we had the press that we had with john wayne, jfk, martin

luther king, would they be the heroes that i own inside? and i think it's very important that we don't overlook that, guys, we're going to make mistakes, and -- >> larry: do you think your audience understands it? your audience? >> country music -- >> larry: forgives you and applauds? they know you're not at the top of your game. >> they want to see you learn. the last thing we want to do is forgive somebody of something and see them make the same mistake again. they'll forgive you once. but they want to see you learn and i don't think that's too much to ask. >> larry: of course, in the other element -- bob hope says if you're a name, you have them for five minutes. >> fair enough. >> larry: then you better be good. >> amen. well, it's like that whole thing. they can -- once they give you the ball, you've got to run with it. and that's the thing. so you're lucky if you get the ball. but it's up to you after that. the hardest part is not getting a record deal. the hardest part is hanging on to it. and that's -- >> larry: staying on top is harder than getting there. >> yeah, i don't know about staying on top, but just being competitive. staying in there.

you want to better yourself. you want to be a better person. you know, ten years down the line, you can have all these things up on your wall, these plaques, all these awards. but if you're not a better musician and a better singer, song writer and a better people, after that ten years, are you really a success? and i think that's the -- that's the main thing. and after that ten years, if you don't have all those plaques but you're a better person, you're not a failure. that's the important thing. >> larry: how is garth brooks doing? how much better are you as a player? >> as a player, at wynn's show, you definitely learn a lot. so i have definitely learned a lot. you get out there and you play. i still use the guitar pretty much just to hide my gut. but, yum, when you get out there, it's just you and that guitar and you're just telling a story. so it's pretty cool. and there's things i can't play. we have a song called shameless and the show that billy joel wrote, and billy joel writes music way above my understanding. and there's pieces in shameless, where i just tell them, i'm

going to drop out at this point, because i don't know how to play it. and when you do, they don't know what to expect. they go there's a fine line between stupid and bravery and this guys seems to walk it. and they allow me that. >> larry: who is the guitarist you wish you could play like? >> steve warner is my buddy. this guy, when he just touches it, he's all over it. but there's lots of guys that -- we were -- we were talking about this last year. we went up to give billy joel a thing called a golden note that is given. and that night there was a piano sitting out there. billy played at it. there had to be six or seven artists playing at it. and i wish i could remember all of their names, but everybody played that piano and at the very end, and forgive me if i am mispronounce ing his name, marvin hamlisch. >> larry: i know him very well. you pronounced it perfectly. >> he sits down. when he hits it, it's like, did they bring in a new piano? it's the same piece of equipment

everyone else has been playing all night. but this thing is warm. it bends around his fingers and it breathes. and you find yourself sobbing at this guy playing. that's the difference between owning an instrument and mastering one. memories like the corners of my mind >> larry: he wrote it. we'll be right back with garth brooks. .

>> larry: we're back with garth

>> larry: we're back with garth brooks. now, you're not working at the wynn until january. what are you going to do in nashville? >> well, you know, they had those massive floods in may. and, again, when you talk about journalism, you talk about the -- everything that is a blessing is a curse, everything that is a curse is a blessing. journalism, i spoke about how it can hurt you. journalism is can also help you. what happened is at the exact same time, the gulf oil leakage, the spill thing, happened. so the press wasn't on nashville. but if you can imagine a flood where things are standing 40 to 45 feet under water, it was crazy. the grand 'ole opry, up to row 5 or 6 was just water. and we saw it on the internet so when i saw the pictures, i said there's no way that can be, that picture has been doctored.

this thing was of epic proportions i don't think any of us were ready for. so they suffered a lot of damage. they need a lot of help. so a lot of the music community came together in may and june and did a lot of things. we knew around christmastime they would need the second wave. so we're doing our part of getting to be a nashville citizen and helping ourselves. >> larry: what are you doing? >> bringing the whole band out, lighting rig, everything, like we haven't done since opening at sprint center. we're doing the south california wildfires that we did out here. >> larry: where? >> we're going to work at bridgestone, at the big arena there. it's the big arena that nashville invested in, and so needed it. and has so supported. it's a beautiful building, sounds great. >> larry: one night? >> that was the original plan. one night turned into nine for us, thank god. so the great thing with this concert that we love, just take the ticket price, times the number of tickets sold and

that's the money that's going. makes it easy. >> larry: the way they are. >> yeah. and so does everybody else. the crews, lighting, everybody, are paying their own pay, because that's where we're from. nashville. >> larry: the wife going to sing? >> oh, yeah. i'm a smart man when it comes to entertaining, and i know to go nowhere without her, no matter what that takes, because that little gal can bring a room. >> larry: you mentioned the guitar hiding your gut. have you always had a problem? >> i've always fought my weight, always. i'm the last of six kids. everybody in the family is athletic, all-states, all-americans and then there was me. and always just did. so -- >> larry: you like to eat. >> i love to eat. you know, my resume, before i got my music job, when it says, you know, name your favorite hobbies, eating and napping was always mine and never could find a job doing that. but now i finally have. >> larry: what do you think you would have been if you weren't an artist?

>> you know, i've been asked this question before. and this is not a statement of humbleness. it's a statement of honesty. i think you would have probably been dealing with me on another level, on the dark side. to tell you the truth. i really do. i'm just -- i'm a guy -- >> larry: you mean you might have been a criminal? >> you know what, i don't know. there's a difference between famous and infamous. >> larry: thin line sometimes. >> yes it is. and i'm not sure, because i want to be a representative of my mom and dad. but i live on the dark side. i just like it. billy joel talks about that, too, that he lives his life with a dark side. >> larry: does the dark side ever come out? >> i think in music it does. i like that world. i like -- you know, there's a great line in the best little whorehouse in texas. when he says i'm in a bad mood and i would like to enjoy it for a little while. that's what you do with music, you get in that dark thing and write that dark side. >> larry: demons -- garth brooks and president obama. next.

>> larry: garth brooks was asked by president obama to play at his inauguration. let's take a look. well, with the last word he said when the last thing we notice is the color of skin and the first thing we look for is that beauty within when the skies and oceans are clean again, we shall be free

>> larry: what was that like? >> that was awesome. it was neat to look out over the water and see the washington monument, look over your right and see the future president of the united states. but the great thing about that day was we all believed in that one word -- change. and we all -- you talk about unity. i would wish upon the entire world the feeling that i felt all that day -- unity. when you walk through there -- one of the greatest moments of that -- forgive me if i step on somebody's toes because i don't think this was a mistake. they said they got their timing off. they did not air the prayer that opened it. if you can pull up the words of what that prayer was about -- >> larry: who read it? >> you know what? i'm going to be unintelligent on this. so i'm going to leave that open. because i know it was a very special man that did it because his beliefs as a religious

leader and his beliefs as a human being that believes in personal choice. so i don't want to step on anybody's toes. but i'm sure if you look it up, you'll get the accurate introduction of the gentleman. but what it was was a prayer for the president. but the truth was, it was a prayer for each one of us because it talked about tolerance, going the long run. we do everything for the short run so much. everything about pulling together and going forward. i don't want to get on politics. with that said, my biggest concern that i have with us is you know how people, if they weren't a certain religion in the old days, in european rule, if they got voted out, then they got beheaded because they didn't believe a certain way. i'm starting to fear that we're replacing those two religions with democratic/republican. i fear that because our person didn't go in, then we sit on our ass and dig our boots in the

ground and try and slow everything down for four years until we get our guy in. and when that happen, the other half that didn't vote for him digs in the ground. my thing is our system elects it. once he's in, whoever it is, let's pull together and make the best out of the best four years. >> larry: we'll have our remaining moments with garth brooks after this.

>> larry: how long are you going to keep on now? are we going to have a retirement again? >> you know what? as long as those two remaining babies in high school say, dad, everything's good, then we keep going as we do. and if there's ever even an ounce of them going, dad, we put it on ice. >> larry: you break that contract? >> that's wynn, wynn is a handshake guy. >> larry: when everything's set and they all go to college, would you go back on the concert tour? >> i've asked ms. yearwood for her blessing on that. when we toured the first time, sandy i were married and had been married, but i didn't see sandy for months sometime. long before cell phones. so i wasn't a very good partner to her. and then when the children come along, you already feel guilty about not being there 24/7. i can't imagine my children

being off to college, everybody healthy and happy and then ms. yearwood says, sic 'em, oh, my god, you talk about fun. >> larry: are you as happy as you've ever been? >> yeah, i am for a lot of reasons. my mom and dad are gone. that's the downside. my brother jerry is gone. so as you get older, you start to lose people. but what i have found out is people that truly lived while they were here live forever. i see my mom every time i close my eyes. i see my mom every time i walk out on stage. so the good things are good, as long as your children are healthy and the people you love are healthy, then everything's great. as long as your relationship with god or christ or whatever it is you believe in is healthy, then everything's good. and i have to tell you right now, knock on wood because i'm one of those guys that say if you say it -- because i love baseball, i'm superstitious, kind of that way. i can't imagine things going better for me right now.