Garth Brooks Grants a Wish

Garth Brooks fans everywhere can now experience Garth onstage as GAC presents Garth: One Artist, One City, One Night, a 90-minute music special premiering Thanksgiving weekend, Friday November 23, 2007 at 8 p.m. ET. Photo courtesy of PR Newswire.

November 20, 2007 — Rebekah Nickerson has wanted to see Garth Brooks in concert for the past eight years, and Garth and the Make-A-Wish Foundation made sure she got to — twice.

The Peoria Journal Star reports that Rebekah was first given one of Garth's CDs nearly eight years ago at about the same time he gave up performing. She became captivated by his songs and wanted to experience them live, but his retirement made it impossible.

A doctor referred Rebekah's name two years ago to Make-A-Wish, an organization that grants wishes for children who have disabilities or are terminally ill. Her only wish was to see Garth in concert. When Garth announced he would return to the stage for several shows in Kansas City, Mo., last week, Make-A-Wish put the wheels in motion to make Rebekah's wish come true.

Rebekah, her parents and her two brothers met Garth in his dressing room before they saw his show on Thursday. Garth had his staff take the family shopping through the concert hall, where they picked up free T-shirts, CDs and key chains. He then invited them to a sound check before Friday's show, where Rebekah got to play the drums, tambourine and sing with Garth before he invited them to that night's show as well. During that second show, he spotted Rebekah in the crowd and sang "We Shall Be Free," to her because it's one of her favorite songs.

"I was a little bit nervous," Rebekah said of meeting her favorite musical artist. "I like to dance to his songs."

Rebekah's father, Scott Nickerson said he was most impressed with the way Garth took so much time to make Rebekah feel special. "For whatever reason, he chose to spend the bulk of the afternoon making this one little girl from a small central Illinois town happy."