Toby Keith, a sometimes polarizing figure in country music who created an identity around his macho, pro-American swagger, died at 62 years old. According to a statement on the country singer’s website, Keith, who was battling stomach cancer, died peacefully surrounded by his family. The statement said, “He fought his fight with grace and courage.” Keith was diagnosed in 2022.
The 6-foot-4 singer-songwriter hit the scene in the country boom years of the 1990s, writing songs that fans loved to hear. Over his career, Keith publicly clashed with journalists and other celebrities, often pushing back against record executives who wanted to smooth his rough edges. He was known for his overt patriotism on post-9/11 songs like “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” and boisterous barroom tunes like “I Love This Bar” and “Red Solo Cup.”
He had a powerful booming voice, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and a range that carried love songs as well as drinking songs. Among his 20 No. 1 Billboard hits were “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “My List,” and “Beer for My Horses,” a duet with Willie Nelson. As a young man, Keith worked as a roughneck in the oil fields of Oklahoma, then played semi-pro football before starting his career as a singer. He told The Associated Press in 2001, after the success of his song “I’m Just Talking About Tonight,” “I write about life, and I sing about life, and I don’t overanalyze things.”
Keith learned valuable lessons in the booming oil fields, which toughened him up but also showed him the value of money. He told the AP in 1996, “The money to be made was unbelievable. I came out of high school in 1980, and they gave me this job in December of 1979, $50,000 a year. I was 18 years old.”
However, the domestic oil field industry collapsed, and Keith was not saved. “It about broke us,” he said. “So I just learned. I’ve taken care of my money this time.” He spent a couple of seasons as a defensive end for the Oklahoma City Drillers, a farm team for the now-defunct United States Football League. But he found consistent money playing music with his band throughout the red dirt roadhouse circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
— Toby Keith (@tobykeith) February 6, 2024
Eventually, his path took him to Nashville, where he attracted the interest of Mercury Records head Harold Shedd, who was best known as a producer for the hit group Alabama. Shedd brought him to Mercury, where he released his platinum debut record “Toby Keith” in 1993. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” his breakout hit, was played 3 million times on radio stations, making it the most-played country song of the 1990s. After a series of albums that produced hits like “Who’s That Man” and cover of Sting’s “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying,” Keith moved to DreamWorks Records in 1999.
Keith often wore his politics on his sleeve, especially after the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in 2001, and early on, he said he was a conservative Democrat but later claimed he was an independent. He’s played at events for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the latter giving him a National Medal of the Arts in 2021. His songs and his blunt opinions sometimes caused him controversy, which he seemed to court.
He was honored by the performance rights organization BMI in November 2022 with the BMI Icon award, a few months after announcing his stomach cancer diagnosis. “I always felt like that the songwriting was the most important part of this whole industry,” Keith told the crowd of fellow singers and writers. He is survived by his wife, Tricia, three children and four grandchildren.