The idea was to make a movie called The Lamb (so emo) that told Gaines’ tragic life story and how he went from not existing at all to having a full-on greatest hits album. Unfortunately, the movie was never made, but we were able to get a glimpse into the life that was never lived via a weird mockumentary-style episode of VH1’s Behind the Music.

According to The Boot, Brooks went into some crazy detail when he thought up Gaines’ backstory. His mother was an Olympic swimmer. His dad didn’t approve of his need to rock. He dropped out of high school and formed a band named Crush with his best bud Tommy Levitz. But Crush came to a tragic end after Tommy died in a plane crash, and Gaines recorded a solo album to deal with the pain. It was a hit, obviously. But he was bamboozled by his manager, and then his dad died of cancer. Then he got in a car crash that left him disfigured. And to top it all off, his house burned down in a wildfire. To deal with his life of endless tragedy, Gaines became a sex addict.

The true part? It’s true that Garth Brooks actually made all of this up. Gaines’ Greatest Hits went on to only sell a measly two million units and be certified only 2x Multi-Platinum, which for Garth Brooks was an abject failure. Another tragedy in the sad, sad life of Chris Gaines.