NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Country superstar Garth Brooks announced Thursday that he's coming out of retirement.

Brooks, 47, said at a news conference in Nashville that he will end his retirement. The move has been rumored in the music industry for weeks. "We're going to take the retirement roof off over our head, and I already feel taller," Brooks said Thursday.

Brooks said he has no immediate plans and will see how things go in the coming years. "As for touring, if I can't eat it, sleep it, breathe it, then it ain't me," Brooks said.

Brooks retired in 2000 to spend more time with his three children. He's occasionally popped up in special appearances at awards shows and charity events, but has mostly stayed out of the limelight. In an interview with The Associated Press last year, Brooks said he would like to return to the road once he raises his children.

The Recording Industry Association of America honored Brooks in 2007 with a career award after he passed Elvis Presley to become the top-selling solo artist in U.S. history. At the time, he had sold more than 123 million albums.

Brooks' last studio album, "Scarecrow," was released in 2001. His three-disc compilation "The Ultimate Hits" finished 10th on Billboard's 2008 list of albums and showed Brooks still has the muscle he displayed in the 1990s.

Brooks divorced his wife, Sandy Mahl, in 2001 and married fellow country star Trisha Yearwood in 2005. The couple lives in Oklahoma.

Chris Talbott, Associated Press Writer

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