Garth announces his retirement....:(

(NASHVILLE) Oct. 26, 2000 -- In a press conference today, Garth announced that he "will not tour again." While he'll release another album in 2001, for which he'll solicit songs from the Nashville community, he will no longer be an active recording and touring artist.

Garth told reporters that he actually made his initial decision in December while appearing on the Crook and Chase show. However, he wanted to give himself eight to nine months to decide. He said, as always, that his decision was based on his family's needs.

Garth said that his deciding moment came when he was watching his daughter play soccer. He said, "I was bawling like a baby and hollering to tell her to go, go, go, and realized I was having more fun than I did while I was on stage."

He said that the decision was really based heavily on his family situation, and that he really wanted to work on his marriage. Garth said that contrary to the way the Billboard story was re-told, he and his wife have not made the final decision to divorce. He said that he and his wife are thinking that they may have to divorce, but they have not made that decision. Watch for an announcement on that topic soon.

Garth told journalists that he'll maintain a house in Nashville, and that he is still building on his property in Oklahoma. He added, that the decision on which way the marriage goes will determine what else he'll build on that property.

The good news for Garth fans is that he will do another album. You won't hear him calling it a "final" or "farewell" album -- he said he doesn't like using those terms, because "you just never know." He wants the new album to rank up there with "No Fences" and his other albums. Garth is putting the word out to the Nashville community that he is seeking songs and expects to get as many as 20,000 potential tunes for this new album. He said he will begin the new "Garth Brooks" album immediately and will release it next summer or fall.

However, Garth said, "I will not tour again. You know the kind of things that I do, and it would take way too much time from my family."

That doesn't mean you'll never see Garth again. He told reporters that he is negotiating with networks to do at least two to three specials to support the launch of the new album.

Additionally, Garth still has "The Lamb" (Chris Gaines) project to do. "Believe it or not, I just got the final script of that a week ago. It's amazing how slow Hollywood moves," Garth said. He added that if they want a soundtrack album for the movie, he will do it.

We'll be covering all the Garth news here at CountryStars.com, and Garth told reporters that the unofficial site www.planetgarth.com will become his official site in the near future.