Garth Brooks performed in a not-so-typical venue this Mother's Day weekend. He and wife Trisha Yearwood took a trip to Rome, where Brooks performed at the Vatican. The two attended the World Meeting on Human Fraternity conference, hosted by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation. The event's theme was "#BeHuman."
Brooks finished out the conference with an acoustic performance in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica. He showcased songs like "The Change," "The River" and a cover of "Amazing Grace." He also performed "To Make Me Feel My Love," which he dedicated to Yearwood.
On his talk show, Inside Studio G, Brooks discussed the nerve wracking build up to the event.
"I don't think I've been this happy in a long time, simply because I'm on the other side of it," he admitted. However, he clarified that the opportunity to perform at the conference was "unbelievably special."
"I was so worried about performing at the Vatican...that was nervous," he said. He answered the theoretical question of "what's the oddest thing to happen to you?" saying, "how about the Pope asking you to come to Rome to play music?"
"I think if I ever get invited back, I'll enjoy it more," Brooks concluded .
He joked that people outside his performance were heard chanting "Friends in Low Places." The 1990 track is Brooks' most popular to date.
He explained that the Vatican requested and selected the songs he performed, which Brooks found "pretty cool." He added that the Vatican specifically chose Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Low," saying that Dylan is "an interpreter for how the world feels."
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"Everyone there was really, really good," he said of the other conference attendees. He pointed to several Nobel Prize winners among the guests. Other American representatives at the event included Tom Brady and New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Despite the language barriers that came with over 350 guests from a variety of countries attending the event, Brooks found that a parent's love for their child transcends all cultural boundaries.
"What you find is: we're really not that different," he remarked.
He continued, explaining that as he sat alongside figures like Graça Machel, who is Nelson Mandela's widow, and Mauro Gambetti, the Vatican's Cardinal, they found themselves all talking about "our children...the future...policy, stuff like that."
Brooks realized that "the borders between us are the wall we've built ourselves," going on to say that "the only ones who can take down those walls are the same people who built them."
"The overall goal was that the majority of the population live in peace. That's all they want," he said. He emphasized that "It is so worth the work it's going to take" to achieve this goal.
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