CBS relented, having initially told Brooks the track was too contentious. He’d been booked to sing the American national anthem – but threatened to walk unless the We Shall Be Free video was played immediately afterwards. Brooks did succeed in having it played at the 1993 Super Bowl, however. It was banned by radio stations across the American South.

Ya know this is intense out here.” The track was a plea against racial, sexual and religious discrimination – and did not go down well among the more conservative elements of his fanbase. “It was pretty scary for all of us, especially a bunch of guys from Oklahoma. And as you drove out of LA you could see the buildings on fire,” he said. “The night the riots hit we watched it all on TV on the bus leaving LA. There was a bru-ha-ha over his 1992 song, We Shall Be Free, which addressed racial divisions in America.īrooks wrote the track after witnessing the LA riots of 1992, which followed the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. But it isn’t the first time he’s been in the spotlight. All of Ireland was transfixed when Brooks was booked for five shows in 2014 only for the concerts to be pulled amid licensing issues.

Facts about garth brooks