Garth Brooks may have picked up his sixth Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year award Wednesday night but as he admitted, he wasn't able to perform like he wanted.
The 55-year-old legendary musician, who is currently touring, lip-synced his performance of "Ask Me How I Know" earlier in the evening, and after picking up his prize he told reporters backstage that he wasn't well and it was necessary.
"We’re in the middle of 12 shows in 10 days. Not 10 shows in 12 days, 12 shows in 10 days," he told reporters. "We did a game-time call on whether to sing the track or lip-sync, and decided to lip-sync. The voice just isn't there anymore, and you want to represent country music as best you can."
Brooks, who's been touring since 2014 with fellow country star (and wife of 12 years) Trisha Yearwood, will wrap things up in Nashville in December after 383 shows.
What'll he do after the whole thing's over? "Sleep. Christmas. Sleep. New Year's Eve. Sleep," he said. "I just think we’re all going to sleep for a while."
He thanked fans on Twitter afterward:
And got an attaboy from Yearwood:
Brooks told People he shares his award with Yearwood and his crew. "I'm taking it back to them. I get to be with the love of my life. They have to live without their families out there. They work their asses off," he said.
As clearly do both he and Yearwood!
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