COUNTRY STAR RULES OUT VISIT TO OMAGH
Country star rules out visit to Omagh
By Tim Brannigan
COUNTRY star Garth Brooks poured cold water on speculation that he might visit Omagh during his stay here when he said that Ireland was "a great market for us to make money in" and that he was not on a "peace mission".
Speaking at a pre-concert press conference the singer said that he felt better for making his statement.
Appearing alongside his special guest and close friend Trisha Yearwood, he said that it was "wonderful" to be in Northern Ireland.
He added that he hoped he wouldn't be offending anyone when he said that "there was no difference between the north and south" of the island.
When asked what it felt like to be in Belfast he said: "This is a very welcome experience. I feel very much at home here. This is a sure-fire bet, a guaranteed great time."
Brooks also joked he was glad that Belfast people had poor taste in music because that meant he would sell more records.
He added that most of his time here had been spent in bed sleeping because he put so much effort into preparing for and performing the concerts.
Brooks was dressed in a baseball cap and dark boiler suit which made him look more like a member of an FBI SWAT team rather than one of the biggest music stars on the planet.
The 'King of Country' has sold out all five nights of his flying visit and could easily have sold more but he has to be back in America on Monday to launch his new live double album.
Brooks hopes his Double Live album will be the first ever to sell one million copies in a day.
He is without doubt one of the biggest stars to have ever played in Belfast and the statistics make impressive reading for those who like their pop stars to sell millions of albums.
Brooks has sold a total of 80 million albums making him not only the biggest selling star in country music but one of the best selling artists of all time.
For the five nights of the concerts there may be delays as thousands of fans flock to the Balmoral venue.
There is on-site car parking via gates A, D and G with exits at gates A, D, E, and G for up to 2,000 cars.
Police have warned that there will be fixed penalty fines for those who cause inconvenience to local residents and other traffic by careless parking.
For further information contact the RUC traffic desk on 01232 650222.
By Tim Brannigan
COUNTRY star Garth Brooks poured cold water on speculation that he might visit Omagh during his stay here when he said that Ireland was "a great market for us to make money in" and that he was not on a "peace mission".
Speaking at a pre-concert press conference the singer said that he felt better for making his statement.
Appearing alongside his special guest and close friend Trisha Yearwood, he said that it was "wonderful" to be in Northern Ireland.
He added that he hoped he wouldn't be offending anyone when he said that "there was no difference between the north and south" of the island.
When asked what it felt like to be in Belfast he said: "This is a very welcome experience. I feel very much at home here. This is a sure-fire bet, a guaranteed great time."
Brooks also joked he was glad that Belfast people had poor taste in music because that meant he would sell more records.
He added that most of his time here had been spent in bed sleeping because he put so much effort into preparing for and performing the concerts.
Brooks was dressed in a baseball cap and dark boiler suit which made him look more like a member of an FBI SWAT team rather than one of the biggest music stars on the planet.
The 'King of Country' has sold out all five nights of his flying visit and could easily have sold more but he has to be back in America on Monday to launch his new live double album.
Brooks hopes his Double Live album will be the first ever to sell one million copies in a day.
He is without doubt one of the biggest stars to have ever played in Belfast and the statistics make impressive reading for those who like their pop stars to sell millions of albums.
Brooks has sold a total of 80 million albums making him not only the biggest selling star in country music but one of the best selling artists of all time.
For the five nights of the concerts there may be delays as thousands of fans flock to the Balmoral venue.
There is on-site car parking via gates A, D and G with exits at gates A, D, E, and G for up to 2,000 cars.
Police have warned that there will be fixed penalty fines for those who cause inconvenience to local residents and other traffic by careless parking.
For further information contact the RUC traffic desk on 01232 650222.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0471
Published Date: 12-Nov-98
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