Country music legend Garth Brooks will be inducted into the "Austin City Limits" Hall of Fame just weeks before the longest-running music television program in history kicks off its 50th anniversary season on PBS stations around the country.
The captain of your "Low Places" friend crew will be honored at a star-studded ceremony at ACL Live on September 5. Brooks and his band will perform at the event and musical highlights will be captured for broadcast as part of a special hour-long episode that will air as part of the show's golden anniversary. The 50th season of "ACL" starts on Sept. 28.
"To be part of anything Austin City Limits is and always has been an honor," Brooks said in a news release about the event. "I am humbled and grateful to not only be a part of the 50th Anniversary, but to be inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame is over the top."
A limited number of tickets will be made available to the public via axs.com on Aug. 2.
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“Garth is a special friend — there’s no one else quite like him,” longtime "ACL" executive producer Terry Lickona said in a news release. “He never forgets his roots, or the people who were there for him in those early days."
Brooks first played "ACL" in 1990. The show was in its 15th season and Brooks was riding high through the cycle of his career-defining fourth album, "No Fences." He came back a decade later with a pair of hour-long episodes that bookended the show's 25th anniversary season. Later, he returned for a pair of non-broadcast events in 2022 to close out the show's old University of Texas campus home, Studio 6A.
“I like this stage. Good things happen on this stage,” Brooks said about the room where the show was launched.
In between those appearances, Brooks played the South by Southwest Music Festival (and dropped by the Broken Spoke while he was in town) in 2017. He also brought his dive bar tour to Gruene Hall, just down the road, in 2019. Last year, he headlined the annual Mack, Jack and McConaughey fundraiser at ACL Live.
Who else is in the 'ACL' Hall of Fame?
In 2014, "ACL" producers created the Hall of Fame to honor artists who have left an indelible mark on the show. The inaugural class of inductees featured Austin legends Willie Nelson (who kicked off the show with a taping on Oct. 17, 1974) and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Other artists in the "ACL" Hall of Fame include Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Flaco Jiménez, Sheryl Crow and Townes Van Zandt.
Last year's honorees were folk music legend John Prine and Brooks' wife, Trisha Yearwood.
This year's ceremony is the first time in the event's 10-year history that only a single honoree will be inducted into the hall.
More information at acltv.com.
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