NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — “Beer for My Horses” singer-songwriter Toby Keith has died. He was 62 years old.
Keith, who had been battling stomach cancer, passed away peacefully on Monday surrounded by his family, according to a statement posted on the country singer’s website. “He fought with grace and courage,” her statement said. He was diagnosed in 2022.
A polarizing figure in country music, the 6-foot-4 singer broke through during the country boom of the 1990s, establishing an identity with a macho, pro-American swagger that fans loved to listen to. I wrote a song. Throughout his career, he clashed publicly with other celebrities and journalists, and often rebelled against record company executives who tried to smooth out his rough edges.
He is known for his overt patriotism in post-9/11 songs such as “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” and raucous barroom songs such as “I Love This Bar” and “Red Solo Cup.” I was there. He had a powerful voice, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and the range to cover everything from love songs to drinking songs.
Among his 20 Billboard No. 1 hits are “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “My List,” ” 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-professional football, and then began a career as a singer.
“I write about life and sing about life. I don’t overanalyze things,” Keith told AP in 2001 following the success of his song “I’m Just Talking About Tonight.” told the news agency.
Keith learned good lessons in the burgeoning oil fields that made him stronger, but also taught him the value of money.
“The money I made was incredible,” Keith told The Associated Press in 1996. “I graduated high school in 1980 and was offered this job in December of 1979. The salary was $50,000 a year.” I was 18 years old. ”
However, the domestic oil industry collapsed and Keith had no savings. “It almost broke us,” he said. “So, I just learned, this time I took care of my money.”
He spent several seasons as a defensive end for the Oklahoma City Drillers, a farm team in the now-defunct United States Football League. However, he found steady money playing music with a band on the red dirt roadhouse circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
“Through all of this, the one thing that remained constant for us was music,” he said. “But it’s hard to just sit back and say, ‘I’m going to sing and compose music and make a fortune.’ I didn’t have any contacts.”
His path eventually led him to Nashville, where he caught the attention of Mercury Records head Harold Shedd, best known as the producer of the hit group Alabama. Shedd brought him to Mercury, where he released his platinum debut record, Toby Keith, in 1993.
His smash hit “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” was played 3 million times on radio stations, making it the most played country song of the 1990s.
However, the label’s focus on international star Shania Twain overshadowed the rest of the group, and Keith felt that executives were trying to push him in a pop direction.
“They were trying to get me to compromise and I was living a miserable life,” Keith told The Associated Press. “Everyone was trying to mold me into something I wasn’t.”
After a string of albums that produced hits such as “Who’s That Man” and a cover of Sting’s “I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying,” Keith signed with DreamWorks Records in 1999. Transferred.
It’s during his weeks-long “How Do You Like Me Now?!” The song became popular and became the first song to chart on the Top 40 chart. In 2001, he won Best Male Vocalist and Best Album at the Academy of Country Music Awards, exclaiming from the stage: 9 years! ”
Songs like “I Wanna Talk About Me,” a spoken word song written by Bobby Braddock about a man frustrated by his talkative partner, drew attention for their similarities to rap rhythms. However, Keith rejected this. “They’ll call it a rap song,[but]there’s no one doing rap that would call it rap,” he told Billboard in 2001.
Keith often kept his politics hidden, especially after the 2001 terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, initially claiming to be a conservative Democrat but later claiming he was an independent. Did. He has performed at events for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, the latter of whom awarded him the National Medal of Arts in 2021. His songs and outspoken opinions were sometimes controversial, and he seemed to like it.
His 2002 song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” includes a message for those who try to mess with America: “I’m going to put my boot in your ass, that’s what America is about.” This included the threat, “That’s how you do it.”
The song was removed from ABC’s patriotic Independence Day special after producers deemed it too angry for the show. Singer-songwriter Steve Earle described Keith’s songs as “pandering to people’s worst instincts when they’re feeling hurt and scared.”
Additionally, there was a feud between Keith and the Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks), and Keith was furious when singer Natalie Maines told an audience that she was ashamed of then-President George W. Bush. became a target. Maines previously described Keith’s songs as “ignorant”.
Keith, who had previously said he supported artists’ freedom to express their opinions on politics, used a doctored photo of Maines alongside an image of Saddam Hussein at a concert, further angering fans.
Maines responded by wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words “FUTK” on stage at the 2003 ACM Awards, which many believed was a vulgar message to Keith.
He also publicly criticized actor Ethan Hawke for writing an article in Rolling Stone depicting an altercation between Kris Kristofferson and an unknown country star who resembled Keith. At a press conference backstage at the awards ceremony, Keith was furious at Hawke (and the reporter who repeated the story) for what he called “imaginary (expletive) lies.”
Although Keith admits to harboring a grudge, he prematurely withdrew from the 2003 ACM Awards after being snubbed in an earlier category and missing out on the award when it was announced as Entertainer of the Year. Vince Gill took over on his behalf. He returned the following year and won Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year for “Shock ‘n Y’all,” his second consecutive top award.
However, his pro-military stance was more than just song material. He participated in 11 USO tours, visiting and playing with troops serving overseas. He also helped raise millions of dollars for his charities throughout his career, including building a home in Oklahoma City for children battling cancer and their families.
After Universal Music Group acquired DreamWorks, Keith made another fresh start, starting his own record label, Show Dog, with record executive Scott Borchetta in 2005, and simultaneously launching his own label, Big Machine. Ta.
“Probably 75 percent of the people in this town think I’m going to fail, and the other 25 percent want me to fail,” he said that year.
The label later became Show Dog-Universal Music and added Keith, Trace Adkins, Joe Nichols, Josh Thompson, Clay Walker, and Phil Vassar to its roster.
Subsequent hits included “Love Me If You Can,” “She Never Cried In Front of Me,” and “Red Solo Cup.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
He was awarded the BMI Icon Award by performance rights organization BMI in November 2022, months after announcing his stomach cancer diagnosis.
“I’ve always felt that songwriting is the most important part of this whole industry,” Keith told the crowd of fellow singers and writers.
