Garth Brooks is undeniably an icon, and now he has the Billboard Award to prove it.
The country music legend was presented with the Icon Award at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards on Wednesday night — receiving the honor from Cher, no less!null
Brooks kicked off his epic medley performance with “The Thunder Rolls,” before transitioning into “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” “The River,” “Standing Outside the Fire,” “Dive Bar,” “Friends in Low Places” and “The Dance.”
“To Miss Cher, getting the award you got makes me feel cool, and cool is never a word I would use to describe me,” Brooks said while accepting his award. “If I had to thank one person, one entity, it would be God Almighty, for through Him all things are possible.”
Brooks also gave a shout out to “the love of my life,” Trisha Yearwood, as well as his three daughters. “I will love you for all my time on this planet,” he gushed. “Country Radio, you gave me this! To all those people who fill those stands, thank you! Thank you for my life!”
Brooks recently spoke with ET about the honor of receiving the Icon Award and what it means to him.
“I think it means what Entertainer of the Year means… The names that are on that award, you know, look at the names that are on that award, and you get confused with those people? That’s pretty cool,” he admitted. “I’m really proud for country music as well.”
Brooks also performed at the Billboard Music Awards with his beloved band, with whom he shared the award. “There’s still five of the seven of us that are together playing stadiums, that started in the honky-tonks 30 years ago. Those guys will all be there, and I think this is their award. So we’re all gonna share it and have a great night.”
This year, as he celebrates the 30th anniversary of his mega-popular, 17x-platinum album, No Fences, Brooks reflected on what he might tell his younger self.
“I’d tell him to enjoy the ride, man, ’cause it’s gonna be a crazy one,” he mused. “If I look back and I think of anything that was bad, I can’t remember it.”
