Garth Brooks’ Daughter Allie Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Country superstar Garth Brooks announced that his daughter has tested positive for coronavirus. On Wednesday, Brooks announced that Allie, who’s 24 years old, had contracted the virus, despite the fact that he and wife Trisha Yearwood tested negative earlier in July.

“Her husband works with us every day,” Brooks explained during a press conference, according to Taste of Country. “So that was the possible scare. So everybody went and got tested, and everybody tested negative, so we were back up and running pretty quick. She quarantined for another 14 days after her time as well, so she’s feeling great.” He went on to say his daughter’s case was mild, though she’s still quarantined herself out of safety. “Truth is, as a parent, nobody knows what COVID is going to do in the future,” Brooks continued. “So you just watch over them, you pray a lot and hopefully she’ll come out of this thing with just that. That would be wonderful.”

Brooks went on to say that his concerns have been alleviated simply by his wife’s involvement in things. “If you know Trisha Yearwood, she’s very … she’s in control,” he explained. “And she has been very spot on these six months, and she’s led our family through it.”

The news came as part of the presser to discuss Brooks’ upcoming career plans, particularly his decision to remove himself from consideration for any future CMA Entertainer of the Year awards. The decision was announced on Wednesday, following some controversy behind him winning the award in 2019.

Brooks has won the award seven times throughout his career, though his requests haven’t been honored at this time. “[The Country Music Association] came back and said, ‘It’s not our call. We cannot pull you out of our awards,’” Brooks said. “So today we sit here and humbly ask with all the gratefulness and love in the world, we are going to do it ourselves. We’re going to pull ourselves out of Entertainer of the Year.”

Prior to his announcement, Brooks had floated ideas like him being named Entertainer of the Year Emeritus, though apparently the CMA “can’t just create” a new title. He also revealed that he began thinking about the decision after last year’s ceremony, where one tweet kept sticking in Brooks’ head after his seventh trophy. “Hey man, this guy, why doesn’t he step down and just have the entertainer be for the next generation?” it read.