Garth Brooks had to take a moment to collect himself during his CBS holiday special on Sunday night. The country star started tearing up while performing the emotional Christmas song, "Belleau Wood" during his and his wife Trisha Yearwood's Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event.
Throughout the special, the couple took song requests from fans online, performing a number of holiday classics like "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night" from their Nashville home. The show took an emotional turn when a fan asked Brooks to play "Belleau Wood," a 1997 song inspired by a Christmas ceasefire during World War I.
"Good luck, buddy. This one makes me cry and I never cry," Yearwood told her husband ahead of his performance. Brooks went on to note that while he usually performs an "abbreviated version" of the song, this time he'd perform the whole thing. "I don’t know how long it's been since I played the whole version, but if it's not too much for you guys, I'd like to play the whole song," he added.
Brooks made it about halfway through "Belleau Wood" before he had to take a moment to collect himself. "Sorry. I'm gonna get this," he told viewers. He then took a deep breath and started playing the tune once again.
"I stood up on my trench / And I began to sing along / Then across the frozen battlefield / Another's voice joined in / Until one by one each man became / A singer of the hymn," Brooks sings on the track.
After finishing the song, Brooks pointed at his wife and said, "I almost made it! So sorry." He then went on to briefly talk about the lyrics that he co-wrote with Joe Henry. "It's so pretty," the country icon said. "And when you're sitting there going, 'Here's hoping we both live to see us find a better way."
Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event is available to stream in full on CBS.com and CBS All Access.
Photo: Getty Images