Well, the cat's out of the bag - and his name is Garth Brooks.  In the world's worst-kept secret, the country music superstar announced this morning he's officially coming out of retirement.  The 47-year-old entertainer - who famously slipped away from recording and touring nine years ago - made the proclamation at the Opry House in Nashville before whisking 40 members of the media to the airport.  They'd been told earlier to pack a small carry-on and meet at a surprise location.  Right now, those journalists are on board a private jet winging their way to Sin City.

I just arrived in Las Vegas to meet up with them for Phase 2 of Operation Comeback: a press conference at the Wynn Encore Hotel.  Kind of bummed they jumped the gun with the announcement - thought they were going to wait for everyone to convene in Vegas before divulging the big news.  Oh well.

Knowing Garth's penchant for drama, maybe there's another surprise up his sleeve.  CNN.com/Live will be carrying the presser as it goes down at 4pm EDT/1pm PDT.