Garth Brooks

When Garth Brooks retired in 2001, it wasn't that he had grown immune to the rush of thousands of fans cheering him on in concert or that he'd run out of songs he relished singing. It was just that, after the collapse of his first marriage, he'd promised his daughters -- who were 4, 6 and 8 at the time -- to make his family his top priority until all three went off to college. That simply wasn't compatible with a busy touring schedule. Now, Brooks is undertaking a Las Vegas residency at billionaire Steve Wynn's resort, but the performer said last week that nothing's changed; family still comes first.

Eight years after trading in his Stetson and pop music superstardom for domestic life raising his three young daughters, Garth Brooks, the biggest-selling solo performer of all time, has decided to dust off that hat and come out of retirement -- but only on weekends. Brooks announced Thursday afternoon that he'll start a series of solo acoustic concerts in the 1,500-seat Encore Theater at the Wynn casino and resort in Las Vegas as part of a multimillion-dollar deal with Steve Wynn, the hotel's billionaire developer.

Britney Spears' "Circus" took the singer back to the top of the national sales chart after selling 505,000 copies during its first week of release. Billboard noted that it makes her the first act with four albums to sell 500,000 or more copies out of the gate. Spears had been tied at three with Jay-Z, Garth Brooks, 2Pac and 50 Cent. It is her fifth No. 1 album. "Circus" was the only album to debut in the Top 20 this week. Other new chart entries included Scarface's "Emeritus," which entered at No. 24 on sales of 42,000, and Neil Young's "Sugar Mountain -- Live at Canterbury House 1968," starting out at No. 40 with 26,000 copies.

'Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go," was the daily thought printed at the bottom of December in the 2007-2008 academic monthly calendar I bought at my son's college. The apercu, written by T.S. Eliot, was appropriate for a collegiate calendar, not only because it was perspicacious but because its author was an academic himself.

The Los Angeles Marathon will be run in five weeks, but first, how about the Garth Brooks Marathon? From 6 p.m. Friday to 11:30 p.m. Saturday, the country star interrupted his retirement to play five concerts at Staples Center in front of nearly 100,000 people, and for a national TV audience in the first hour.

Garth BROOKS doesn't own a BlackBerry. He's dismayed by musicians who use click-tracks to keep the beat and auto-tuning to stay on pitch. Until recently, he recorded his albums on analog tape. Still, the 45-year-old singer is a modern guy, sidestepping his publicist to set up his own interviews by e-mail. Given a choice, though, he'll reach out the semi-old fashioned way: via cellphone, better for cracking jokes and asking about a caller's kids.

Just can't get enough of Garth Brooks? Then you better circle Jan. 26 on your calendar and contact your favorite ticket agent: Brooks will play three shows that Saturday at Staples Center (1, 5 and 9 p.m.), which will follow two shows on Jan. 25 (6 and 10 p.m.). All five concerts sold out in less than an hour this past weekend. The whirlwind L.A. visit will raise money for Southern California 2008 Fire Relief Campaign, a campaign of the McCormick Tribune Foundation.