Garth Brooks has never been shy about his admiration for the legendary James Taylor and his influence on Brooks' career; in fact, he even noted that Taylor's New Moonshine tops his list of favorite albums.

So to pay homage to the country star's hero, Brooks got the entire crowd at PNC Arena in North Carolina, the state where Taylor grew up, to sing a tribute in honor of Taylor's birthday on March 12.

"Today is James Taylor's birthday," Brooks announced. "We already sang 'Happy Birthday' tonight, so we're gonna sing James a different song. Everybody pull out your phones, we're going to blow up his Twitter page with happy birthdays."

From there, Brooks led the way into a cover of the classic 1968 Taylor song, "Carolina In My Mind."

The gesture definitely didn't go unnoticed. Taylor responded via Twitter to express his gratitude toward Brooks.

Brooks has been on the road since 2014 alongside his wife Trisha Yearwood as part of his three-year-long world tour, which coincided with the release of his comeback album, Man Against Machine. 

He recently announced on Facebook that new music is on the way; he just needs to strengthen his writing muscle.

"I ask for your patience as I explore the writing again. I have been at it for over four months now, enjoying the challenge and enjoying the studio more because of it," Brooks posted. "This new album will be the most Garth thing I have ever done… whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, you will decide."

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