President Jimmy Carter turns 100 on Tuesday (Oct. 1), making him the first president ever to reach the milestone.
Smack dab in the middle of their 14th Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity, Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood took some time while on the ground to speak on the former president and his legacy.
“We have wished him Happy Birthday virtually about a million times, so hopefully he will get the message today,” Yearwood remarks.
“All thousand of the volunteers this morning sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to him, so it was a pretty cool moment,” Brooks adds. He and Ms. Yearwood have been friends with the former president and his late wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, for many years, so they’ve learned a lot about each other.
“Anytime you get to talking about him, you are gonna talk about probably two or three things,” Brooks says of Pres. Carter. “You’re gonna talk about his faith, you’re gonna talk about music and you’re gonna talk about some of the biggest historical moments on the planet.”
Brooks and Yearwood are in St. Paul, Minn., this week, building 30 new, affordable homes as part of the Habitat for Humanity initiative. The Carter Work Project is in its 40th year, and though the 100-year-old Carter isn’t there with a hammer in his hand, he’s present on everyone’s mind.
“President Carter actually, has, you know … the one story that did cause us great stress is he just got dizzy for a moment when we were in Canada and building 150 homes for the 150th anniversary,” CEO of Habitat for Humanity International, Jonathan Reckford, explains, giving new details on the president’s health.
“They wished him off just to be safe, and he called me quite irritated and unfortunately all the cameras were lined up for a big press conference, and I was like, ‘What do you want me to tell them?'”
Reckford says Pres. Carter responded with a quick: “Tell them, ‘I’m fine, get back to work.'”
That speaks to who the 39th president of the United States is — he’s not a quitter.
Brooks is optimistic that that’s not soon to change, either, remarking that Carter, “is gonna live forever.”
30 Gushy Photos of Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Together
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are two peas in a pod. The pair not only support each other professionally, they are big fans of each other on a personal level, as well. Both of them have been known to gush about their spouse in interviews — they speak very highly of one another!
After tying the knot in 2005, the couple’s love has grown over the years. Now, nearly 20 years later, Brooks and Yearwood are closer than ever. The two are partners in life, music and even a new business with the opening of Nashville’s newest bar Friends in Low Places, which they curated.
See Inside Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s Malibu Beach House:
Brooks and Yearwood bought their 4-bedroom, 3.5-bathroom, 4,200-square-foot house in Malibu for slightly less than $5 million in June of 2008. The house itself is fairly modest, but very well-appointed, featuring an open floor plan.
The living room boasts a corner fireplace and multiple sets of French doors that open to the backyard. The kitchen includes marble countertops, while skylights offer plenty of natural California sunlight. The den features floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on either side of a fireplace of white brick.
The backyard is spectacular, featuring a loggia, an outdoor fireplace, a half-court basketball court and elaborate landscaping. The house provides direct access to the world-famous Malibu beach via a set of steps.
The couple sold the house in Malibu in late 2016 for $7 million.
Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker