Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood’s friendship with President Carter lasted for years: ‘They inspired us’
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood they paid tribute to former President Carter on Thursday and paid tribute to their friendship with the American leader.
Brooks and Yearwood dressed in black as they sang John Lennon’s “Imagine” at the end Carter’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9. The couple maintained a friendship with the former president for years.
“President Carter, the legacy you and Rosalynn left us is as beautiful as the life you lived,” Brooks said in a statement released shortly after Carter’s death.
“Thank you for your lifetime of service to our country and the world. You have inspired us not only with what you have said, but also with what you have built. We love you.”
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Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks hold hands after performing during a service honoring Rosalynn Carter in November 2023. (Brynn Anderson/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The former president reportedly requested that Brooks and Yearwood perform the song at the funeral. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Carter Center for comment.
Brooks and Yearwood they performed the same duet at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral in November 2023. Rosalynn’s service was held at Emory University’s Glenn Memorial Chapel in Atlanta. The couple dressed in all black for the somber occasion.
At the time, Brooks spoke highly of Rosalynn and shared how close the former first lady and his wife have grown over the years.
“They were inseparable,” he explained at the press conference, “Today” reports. “Miss Yearwood called her ‘the silent warrior’.
He shared his own admiration for Carter’s wife, telling reporters, “If you ever have to hang around her, President Carter always steals the floor, and then when it’s time for her to speak, she’ll go to the microphone. What she says is very quiet, but again very powerful.”
Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks perform during a service honoring former first lady Rosalynn Carter on November 28, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Brooks and Yearwood met the Carters while working for Habitat for Humanity. The former president and his wife started working with the charity in 1984. The couple managed a renovation project of a 19-unit apartment building in New York.
Country music stars got involved with Habitat for Humanity years later, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
Trisha Yearwood, former President Carter, Rosalynn Carter and Garth Brooks work on the Habitat for Humanity project. (Habitat for Humanity International/Jason Asteros)
“After Katrina in ’07, we fell in love with Habitat for Humanity. We knew we loved the Carters, and we fell in love with them even more when we got the chance to work with them,” Yearwood told People magazine in 2023. “We love that what Habitat for Humanity is — spreading the love It’s about creating community.
To whom much is given, much is expected, she added. “We’ll never replace their shoes, but we’re doing the best we can.”
Brooks and Yearwood were also “inspired” by Carter and Rosalynn’s 77-year marriage.
“They’ve inspired us in a lot of ways, the ways you’d expect — humanity, humility, work ethic. But they’ve also inspired us by their example as husband and wife,” Brooks told People in 2023.
“We’ve worked with them for the last 15 years and you can tell right away that they’re arguing about the right way to do things. It works for us too!”
Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks were “inspired” by the marriage of President Carter and Rosalynn Carter. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for iHeartMedia)
In 2019, Brooks and Yearwood performed at the Grand Ole Opry with Carter as part of the Habitat for Humanity project. Carter and his wife were in Nashville to build homes with the organization.
“We’re getting more out of Habitat than we ever put into it,” the former president said during the closing ceremony at the Opry, Opry.com reports. It was one of Carter’s last visits to the legendary Ryman Auditorium.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood represent former President Carter and Rosalynn Carter at the Grand Ole Opry on October 11, 2019 in Nashville. (Larry McCormack/Nashville Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Carter wasn’t just close to Brooks and Yearwood. The former leader of the United States had a handful of famous confidants. He spent time with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Greg Allman, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Buffett, to name a few.
“They inspired us in a lot of ways, the ways you’d expect — humanity, humility, work ethic. But they also inspired us by their example as husband and wife.”
Willie Nelson is joined on stage by former President Carter, who played harmonica for “Georgia on My Mind” at Chastain Park Amphitheater on July 27, 2008 in Atlanta. (Rick Diamond/Staff/Wireimage)
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Garth Brooks, Rosalynn Carter, Trisha Yearwood and President Carter formed a friendship through Habitat for Humanity. (John Shearer/Getty Images)
Brooks and Yearwood recently attended the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Week Project 2024 to celebrate Carter’s 100th birthday in St. Paul, Minnesota. Habitat for Humanity hosted a week-long event focused on building homes and raising awareness about affordable housing.
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“He definitely wants to know that we’re working and that’s why we’re here. He has a legacy of service and he’s never stopped serving,” Yearwood told People magazine in October.
“He’s not physically standing here building, swinging a hammer. But we strongly feel his presence and Ms. Rosalynn’s presence. We’re just two volunteers, but everyone who’s in this place feels a responsibility to be proud.”
Jimmy Carter and late wife Rosalynn at a Sotheby’s auction on October 4, 1983. (Yvonne Hemsey/The Liaison Agency)
A troop of Boy Scouts salutes as they pay their respects in front of the flag-draped casket at the National Lying-in Ceremony for former President Carter on January 8. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images)
Carter was admitted to hospice care in February 2023 and died on December 29, 2024.
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The former president died surrounded by his family approximately 22 months after entering hospice care at his home in Georgia. In 2015, Carter battled metastatic melanoma. His skin cancer was treated with surgery, radiation and immunotherapy at the age of 90.
