Garth Back on Hit Parade

The music isn't over for Garth Brooks. Not by a long shot.

Seven years after hanging up his Stetson and heading into semiretirement, the country superstar is ready for a comeback...of sorts. Brooks has cowritten and recorded four new cuts that will grace a greatest-hits package hitting stores Nov. 6.

Ultimate Hits is actually a three-disc set containing two CDs, with 34 of his best known songs and a DVD of videos. With his exclusive two-year distribution deal with Wal-Mart expiring on July 7, Brooks, now 45, will self-release the collection to retailers nationwide via his Pearl Records.

At a Nashville press conference Saturday, the "Friends in Low Places" singer said he would promote the retrospective by making the publicity rounds on radio, television, satellite—you name it.

"You're going to see us everywhere," Brooks told reporters. "It's my job to let people know it's out there. And then after February, I'm going to go back to whatever I was doing before this."

After becoming the bestselling solo artist of all time, topping the 100 million album mark in the U.S., Brooks called it quits in 2000 to be a father to his three daughters in Oklahoma. Aside from an occasional benefit appearance with his second wife and fellow country star, Trisha Yearwood, he has largely stuck to his promise not to take to the stage until his youngest daughter graduates from high school in 2015.

That means fans shouldn't expect a tour in support of the compilation. However, the two-time Grammy winner did reveal plans to give a concert for Wal-Mart as a way of thanking the retail giant for helping him sell nearly 20 million units during the first year of their partnership. He also didn't rule out the possibility of doing more live events.

"If we're going to do something on that scale, we're going to find a way to bring it locally into your town," he said.

Yearwoods' label, Big Machine Records, will handle promotional duties for the album.

The first new track to be released as a single, "More Than a Memory," is a poignant ballad that goes out to radio stations nationwide Aug. 27. The other new recordings are "Leave the Light On," "Midnight Sun" and a duet with Huey Lewis on the latter's 1982 hit "Workin' for a Livin'."

According to Brooks, Ultimate Hits will feature two album covers—a regular and a limited edition—and will be retail priced between $11 and $14.

The set won't be available for download on iTunes, however, as the entertainer and Apple failed to rope an online agreement.

Brooks' last studio album was 2001's Scarecrow, which debuted atop the Billboard charts—the seventh number one album of his career—and has sold over 3 million copies.

Thanks to: E News Online