Garth Brooks [ tickets ], who only occasionally has performed in public since announcing his retirement in late 2000, is planning to get back to work.

A Las Vegas Weekly report by Robin Leach says that Brooks will announce plans for a long-term Las Vegas residency at Steve Wynn's casino hotels. A press conference reportedly is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. PT today (10/15). [Update: the press conference now is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT.]

According to reports, Brooks began the day with a press conference in Nashville, and reporters then joined him on a private, chartered flight to Las Vegas.

Brooks has sold more albums in the US--upwards of 128 million--than any solo artist in history, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

He also was one of the best concert draws in the business during the 1990s. During his 1996-98 tour, Brooks played 350 shows in 100 cities, selling more than 5.3 million tickets, according to his publicist at the time.

Since announcing his retirement, Brooks has played several charity shows, and has turned up at special events on occasion. In 2007, he played nine sold-out shows at Kansas City, MO's Sprint Center--an engagement that originally was announced as a single-show thank-you to Walmart employees, but later expanded to multiple public shows.

Look for more details about Brooks' plans later today on LiveDaily.