Garth Brooks Reveals His Favorite ’90s Country Song
It's not one of his own. Garth Brooks recently listed his favorite '90s country song. Actually, he listed five of them, but there's a catch.
All five are Deana Carter's "Strawberry Wine."
"Possible one of the greatest songs and one of the greatest records," he says. "That record — Ms. Carter, she just knocked it out of the park."
"Strawberry Wine" was Carter's debut single from her Did I Shave My Legs for This? album, released in 1996. Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison wrote the coming-of-age, first-time love story, and it's universally cherished as one of the great all-time country songs. It would go on to be nominated for a Grammy and win the CMA Song of the Year Award, and she'd later tell Taste of Country the album still resonates with her.
“The whole record is about my first love and what I went through, and all those songs are about that feeling and those experiences,” Carter says, adding that some of the songs from that album help heal her broken heart today.
Brooks talked to Taste of Country's Billy Dukes prior to the 2018 CMA Awards in Nashville. Numerous artists were asked to help put together the ultimate '90s country music playlist. Alan Jackson, David Lee Murphy and Diamond Rio were just a few of the artists mentioned throughout several dozen interviews. Below are 50 essential '90s country songs, as put together by ToC staff, with input from artists and fans.
These Are the Most Essential '90s Country Songs