E1

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Garth Brooks is coming to The Strip.

The country superstar and casino owner Steve Wynn announced that Brooks will take over the Encore theatre at Wynn Las Vegas about 15 weeks a year, perhaps for the next five years.

And it only cost the entrepreneur a jet.

"I told him he couldn't afford me," Brooks said. "I was wrong. Wow."

Wynn bought the jet for Brooks so the best-selling solo act could continue to spend a maximum amount of time with his three teenage daughters and still perform. His youngest child has five years till she's off to college, and the deal Brooks and Wynn struck is flexible enough to guarantee the singer won't miss a precious moment.

He'll play shows on select Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Dec. 11. The plane lets him leave his Oklahoma home at 6 on Fridays and return home in time on Sundays so he can be ready to drive his girls to school the next morning.

Brooks divorced his wife, Sandy Mahl, in 2001 and married fellow country star Trisha Yearwood in 2005. The couple lives in Oklahoma.

***

Celebrity Birthdays:

* Actress Julie Adams (Creature From the Black Lagoon) is 83.

* Singer Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts is 67.

* Drummer Michael Hossack of The Doobie Brothers is 63.

* Actor Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap) is 62.

* Actress Margot Kidder is 61.

* Actor George Wendt is 61.

* Country singer Alan Jackson is 51.

* Actor Grant Shaud (Murphy Brown) is 49.

* Canadian actor-comedian Norm MacDonald is 46.

* Singer Rene' Dif (Aqua) is 42.

* Reggae singer Ziggy Marley is 41.

* Canadian comedian Rick Mercer is 40.

* Singer Chris Kirkpatrick of 'N Sync is 38.

* Rapper Eminem (real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III) is 37.

* Singer Wyclef Jean of The Fugees is 37.

* Actress Sharon Leal (Boston Public) is 37.