Garth Brooks with the first ever ACM Crystal Milestone Awards backstage at the 43rd Annual ACM Awards, Sunday, May 18, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV. Photo by David Vespie.
July 21, 2008 — The New York Mets baseball team is in the middle of a pennant race, but the ballclub’s home is on its last leg. Garth Brooks helped wave goodbye to Shea Stadium Friday when he showed up at Billy Joel’s performance, billed as the final concert for the old ballpark.
Garth and Billy did a duet version of Garth’s 1991 hit "Shameless," The New York Times reported. That was appropriate since Billy wrote that song and recorded the first version of it on his 1989 album Storm Front. It was also appropriate because it provided another layer to Garth and Billy’s public friendship. Billy was a guest when Garth played his most famous concert in New York, a free performance in Central Park that aired as a live special on HBO in August 1997.
Not that Garth was the only guest at the Shea date. Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, a writer of Garth’s 1995 single "Fever," made an appearance, as did The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney, who joined Billy on a run-through of the Beatles’ "I Saw Her Standing There."
The Beatles, of course, played the most famous concert ever at Shea Stadium, drawing 55,000 fans in August 1965. That Fab Four performance was personally important for one of Garth’s fellow country hitmakers in the 1990s: It was the first concert ever attended by BlackHawk lead singer Henry Paul.
Shea will be replaced by a new ballpark next season. The last regular-season game is slated for Sept. 28.
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