Toby Keith was born on July 8, 1961. He was born and raised in Clinton, Oklahoma, which is where his musical journey began. When Toby was just 20 years old, he went into the oil business where his colleagues and he started a band. The band would go out on the weekends and play in all types of different venues. He started his musical career with the band in the 1980s; however, he never struck gold until the 1990s when the company Mercury Records gave him a chance. Toby and a Mercury Records employee worked hard to give Toby a song. Then in 1993, they came out with “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”. Within a few weeks, it went to No. 1, and that is what really started Toby’s music career.
Toby had a handful of hits all the way from “As Good As I Once Was” to “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue”. Both of these songs were huge hits for him and are one of the many factors that made Toby who he was. Toby also had some songs with other musical legends. He had the song “Beer for My Horses” with Country music star Willie Nelson. During Toby’s very successful career, he had over 20 No. 1 hits, and it didn’t stop there. He had over 24 albums and sold just over 40 million records worldwide. The song that made Toby the most famous is “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” with over 226 million streams. This song was enough to be No. 1 on the charts for just over 5
consecutive weeks. Then, just a few weeks later, the song “Pull My Chain” became No. 1, and Toby was once again back at the top of the charts.
One of Toby’s main music genres was patriotic. He had songs like “Courtesy of the Red White and Blue” and a song called “American Soldier”, which were no shock, all No. 1 hits. He also had the opportunity to play at some of the past presidents’ inaugural ceremonies. That is what he believed was one of his biggest accomplishments.
All of the country fans and musicians were shocked and saddened by the news. One of country’s greatest stars, Dolly Parton, said, “It is always hard when we lose our brothers and sisters in country music”. Also, Country Music star Jason Aldean said, “Toby was a huge presence in our business and someone we all looked up to and respected.” Even though he is gone, his impact on the country industry and anyone else affected by him will remember the great impact he left behind.
