When Trisha Yearwood wed fellow country star Garth Brooks in 2005, she married into a blended family.
It was uncharted territory for Yearwood, who never had kids of her own.
“When you don’t have children, you have the luxury of being selfish because it’s just about you,” Yearwood, 57, told SheKnows. “You don’t have to think about somebody else first. And as an artist, it’s easy to be really egocentric because your job is to be thinking about your career, what you have to do next, how you’re going to take yourself to the next level.”
Yearwood acknowledged there were challenges in the beginning. The Grammy-winning singer had never parented before and had to find her footing. But she has since formed an unbreakable bond with Brooks’ three daughters, Allie, 25, August, 27, and Taylor, 29, who he shares with ex-wife Sandy Mahl.
“It was a gift that I received from Garth and the girls of having them in a life that I didn’t know I was missing,” she said. “I can’t imagine my life without them.”
Yearwood noted that she prefers the term “bonus mom” because “stepmom” has negative connotations.
“When I think of stepmom, I think of Cinderella,” she explained. “Jada Pinkett Smith told me years ago, she’s like, ‘You’re a bonus mom; don’t call yourself something else.’”
Yearwood and Brooks, 59, will celebrate their 16-year anniversary next week. But the pair have known each other for much longer than that. They met in 1987 while recording a demo track and began dating after his 2001 divorce.
“We aren’t like a magical couple. We have our days, right? But we are best friends,” she revealed. “I think the groundwork was laid by being friends for such a long time before we were a couple.”
The secret to their happiness, she said, is that they make their relationship the priority. Often that means turning down projects.
“Even before the pandemic, where we have spent every day together, we spent very few nights apart because we just felt like that’s important,” Yearwood said. “We were both married before, and so we thought if we’re going to be together, let’s not get married to be together and then apart.”
Yearwood joked that Brooks is “more of a thoughtful person” than she is.
“I think he wakes up 24/7 thinking about how he can make my life better, and I think about him maybe 20 hours a day,” Yearwood laughed as she explained. “The rest of the time I'm thinking, how do I make myself better or more grateful for everything he does?”