1. Toby Keith Covel was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman.
67 Facts About Toby Keith
1. 2.
In 2005, Toby Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which later became Show Dog-Universal Music.
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Toby Keith made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges.
4.
Toby Keith co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song "Beer for My Horses".
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Toby Keith charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including 20 number one hits and 22 additional top 10 hits.
6.
Toby Keith was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump in a closed ceremony alongside Ricky Skaggs on January 13,2021.
7.
Toby Keith was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2024, having been elected just hours after his death.
8.
Toby Keith Covel was born on July 8,1961, in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan and Hubert K Covel Jr.
9.
The family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years when Toby Keith was in grade school but moved to Moore, Oklahoma, when he was still young.
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Toby Keith's grandmother owned Billie Garner's Supper Club in Fort Smith, where Keith became interested in the musicians who came there to play.
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Toby Keith did odd jobs around the supper club and started getting up on the bandstand to play with the band.
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Toby Keith got his first guitar at the age of eight.
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Toby Keith graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields.
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Toby Keith worked his way up to become a supervisor.
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When Toby Keith was 20, he and his friends formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars and roadhouses as he continued to work in the oil industry.
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In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline, and Toby Keith soon found himself unemployed.
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Toby Keith fell back on his football training and tried out for the professional Oklahoma Outlaws.
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The album's success led to Toby Keith touring with then-labelmates Shania Twain and John Brannen.
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Toby Keith then signed with Polydor Records Nashville and released his second album, Boomtown, in September 1994.
20.
Toby Keith appeared on The Beach Boys' now out-of-print 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol.
21.
In 1999, Toby Keith moved to DreamWorks Records' Nashville division, of which Stroud served as president.
22.
In July 2003, Toby Keith made a guest appearance on Scotty Emerick's debut single "I Can't Take You Anywhere", which was previously recorded by Toby Keith on Pull My Chain.
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Toby Keith abandoned Stroud as co-producer in favor of Cannon's wife, Lari White.
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Big Dog Daddy followed in 2007, with Toby Keith serving as sole producer.
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Toby Keith released "She Never Cried in Front of Me", which went to number 1 in 2008.
26.
In December 2011, Toby Keith was named "Artist of the Decade" by the American Country Awards.
27.
In October 2014, Toby Keith released "Drunk Americans", the lead single from his eighteenth studio album, 35 MPH Town.
28.
In 2015, Toby Keith was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
29.
In September 2017, Toby Keith released the compilation album, The Bus Songs.
30.
In 2021, Toby Keith featured on the Brantley Gilbert single "The Worst Country Song of All Time" with Hardy.
31.
On September 28,2023, after receiving the first Country Icon Award at the People's Choice Country Awards, Toby Keith performed publicly for the first time since his June 2022 cancer diagnosis announcement.
32.
In March 2024, one month after his death, it was announced that Toby Keith would be posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, having been elected just hours after his death.
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Toby Keith starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs such as "Ford Truck Man" and "Look Again" while driving Ford trucks.
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Toby Keith made an appearance at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling weekly pay-per-view on June 19,2002, where his playing of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett.
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In 2009, Toby Keith participated in the Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy, which aired on March 14,2009.
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Toby Keith received the "Colbert Bump" when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report.
37.
Toby Keith holds the distinction of being the only musical artist to have received a five star rating from Stephen Colbert on iTunes.
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Toby Keith furthered this connection when he appeared in Colbert's 2008 Christmas special as a hunter.
39.
Toby Keith made an appearance as a musical guest on the October 27,2011, episode of The Colbert Report.
40.
On October 29,2011, Toby Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
41.
Toby Keith played "Bullets in the Gun" and he joined with Huckabees house band to play a song at the end of the show.
42.
In December 2018, Toby Keith appeared as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
43.
Toby Keith wrote and starred in the 2008 movie Beer for My Horses, which is based on the 2003 hit single "Beer for My Horses" recorded by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson.
44.
In 2009, Toby Keith established a line of clothing, TK Steelman.
45.
In 2011, Toby Keith introduced a new drink named "Wild Shot".
46.
Toby Keith had made numerous trips to the Middle East, starting in 2002, to perform for those serving in the US military.
47.
In 2004, Toby Keith called himself "a conservative Democrat who is sometimes embarrassed for his party".
48.
Toby Keith endorsed the re-election of President George W Bush in the 2004 presidential election and performed at a Dallas, Texas, rally on the night before the election.
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Toby Keith endorsed Democrat Dan Boren in his successful run in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and was good friends with former Democratic New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
50.
Toby Keith responded with "Never did", and said he favors setting a time limit on the campaign.
51.
In October 2008, Toby Keith told CMT that he had left the Democratic Party and he re-registered as an independent.
52.
In March 2009, Toby Keith received the Johnny "Mike" Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award during a New York ceremony held by the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation.
53.
ABC invited Toby Keith to perform on a 2002 Fourth of July concert it was producing.
54.
The lead singer of the Chicks, Natalie Maines, publicly stated that Toby Keith's song was "ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant".
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Toby Keith responded by displaying a backdrop at his concerts showing a doctored photo of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
56.
Toby Keith thanked outgoing president Barack Obama for his service and thanked president-elect Trump at the start of the celebration.
57.
Toby Keith was the father of three children, including Krystal Keith.
58.
Toby Keith had an honorary degree from Villanova University, which he attended from 1979 to 1980.
59.
Toby Keith was an avid University of Oklahoma sports fan, and Keith was often seen at Oklahoma Sooners games and practices.
60.
Toby Keith was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team.
61.
In 2004, Toby Keith helped found Ally's House, a cancer charity named after Allison Webb, the deceased daughter of one of Toby Keith's former bandmates.
62.
Toby Keith described it to The Oklahoman in 2019 as his greatest accomplishment.
63.
Toby Keith filmed a PSA for Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged US public schools.
64.
In June 2022, Toby Keith announced that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer at the end of 2021, having undergone chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for the past six months.
65.
Toby Keith said that his battle with cancer had been "pretty debilitating" in a December 2022 press release.
66.
Toby Keith died in his sleep in Oklahoma, on February 5,2024, at the age of 62.
67.
The song "Red Solo Cup", recorded by Toby Keith, inspired the university to honor him by handing out red Solo cups with any purchase of a drink.