Famous country music composer and vocalist Toby Keith passes away at age 62

Famous country music composer and vocalist Toby Keith passes away at age 62

Famous country music composer and vocalist Toby Keith passes away at age 62

Mr. Keith gained popularity with singles including "Who's Your Daddy" and "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue." He revealed his illness in 2022.

"Who's Your Daddy?" said Toby Keith. similar to the enormously successful singer-songwriter of the nation's top hit tune. Additionally, "Made in America" and one of Nashville's greatest performers in the last thirty years passed away on Monday. His age was sixty-two.

His official website reported his passing. In an email, Mr. Keith's spokeswoman Ellen Schock said that the man passed away in Oklahoma, the state in which he was born and raised.

In the summer of 2022, Mr. Keith made public his diagnosis of stomach cancer and the course of treatment, which included radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery.

Mr. Keith claimed he was still receiving therapy in a recent interview with the Oklahoma City television station KWTV. Mr. Keith performed five gigs in Las Vegas in December. He said, "Cancer is a roller coaster." "You simply sit here and hope it goes away; it might never go away." He said that his Christian faith is enabling him to recover and go over any possibly negative outcomes.

Mr. Keith became known for his raucous and confrontational demeanor with his performances of "I Won't Talk About Me" and "Beer for My Horses." He would alternate between ranting and singing in a growling baritone.

With "Beer for My Horses," a twisting rock song starring Willie Nelson in the vein of the Rolling Stones, at the top of the Billboard country charts, the song was built around deft wordplay, droll comedy, and more than a hint of masculine bravado. appeared as a guest singer who achieved Pop Top 40 success.

The majority of Mr. Keith's compositions, which varied in style from Southern rock and pop-country balladry to classic honky-tonks, were written by him or with his collaboration. He sold over 40 million albums worldwide, and over 60 of his songs, including 20 No. 1 successes, made it to country charts. In 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Songwriters Hall of Fame with Cyndi Lauper, Willie Dixon, the blues pioneer, as well as Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead.

Mr. Keith was thirty years old and had been trying unsuccessfully for years to break into the music industry when he secured his first record contract in 1993. To support his young family, he was once employed as a semi-professional football player, a roughneck in Oklahoma's oil fields, as well as a rodeo hand.

In a 2018 episode of "The Massive Interview with Dan Rather," Mr. Keith said, "I didn't take much break for the first 20 years of my adult life."

Referring to "Should've Been a Cowboy," his first No. 1 country record in 1993, "When I came outside to my song was a hit, I was doing 28, 29 engagements a month because I has not done this." "I'm certain I'll take another hit."

"At that time," he went on, "I was just trying to outdo everyone else."

Notwithstanding his broad appeal and genuine blue-collar persona, Mr. Keith often stirred up controversy, particularly in the political sphere.

"Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)" became a 2002 pop crossover smash and a No. 1 country song, making it perhaps the most notable example. The song was written by Mr. Keith in reaction to the events of 9/11 as well as the passing of his father, a crippled veteran, in a car accident earlier that year.

The song's last verse, delivered with the same genuine passion as Bob Seger and John Mellencamp, might be seen as either a chauvinistic tirade or a patriotic rallying cry, depending on one's point of view.

The album provoked a long-running debate, among other things, with Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks (now the Chicks), who took offense to the song and called it "ignorant" and "Took Mr. Keith." Maines saw the song as the worst kind of nationalism. both stage work and interviews.

Mr. Keith said, "I don't apologize for being a patriot," during a 2007 interview with Newsday.

An very autonomous individual, Mr. Keith spent years characterizing himself as a conservative Democrat, confounding his detractors with contrasting remarks expressing respect for the ideologically disparate decisions made by, say, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Did. Subsequently, he said that he had re-enrolled as an independent voter.

A discouraging instance of Mr. Keith's contradictory ability to be amazed was his 2003 rendition of "If I Was Jesus," a tender reflection that evoked memories of the former John Prine.

The song's second half opened with him singing, "If I were Jesus/Some of my friends were poor," with a beat reminiscent of the Caribbean. "I'll run with the wrong crowd/Man, I'll probably never be bored/Then I'll heal a blind man, get myself crucified/By politicians as well as preachers who have something to hide."

It was sufficient that Mr. Keith, who had been written off by critics as a foolish fool, delivered these remarks with a sense of humor and self-deprecation. His assertion that God favors sinners and the excommunicated—a view consistent with liberation theology—was especially depressing.

Mr. Keith created music that reflected his background in the working-class, post-Dust Bowl milieu of the Southwest, drawing inspiration from populist singers like as Merle Haggard. The Academy of Country Music awarded him the 2020 Merle Haggard Spirit Award in honor of this affinity.

The second of three children, Toby Keith Cowell was born in Clinton, Oklahoma on July 8, 1961. His parents were Caroline Joan (Ross) Cowell and Hubert K. Cowell Jr. His father was employed in the oil sector as a derrickhand. Her mother was a budding vocalist who gave up on her career to stay at home and raise her family.

Mr. Keith was mostly raised in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, Oklahoma. After receiving his first guitar at the age of eight, he went on to spend the summers in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he worked various jobs at his grandmother's dinner club and sometimes joined the house band.

He began working in the oil fields with his father after high school and ultimately rose to the position of supervisor. He and a few pals started the Easy Money Band when he was twenty years old, and they started off performing in neighborhood bars before moving on to the roadhouse circuit in Texas and Oklahoma.

Mr. Keith attempted, but was unsuccessful, to break into the Nashville music scene by driving around on street corners as well as knocking on doors along Music Row. He didn't get a deal with Mercury Records until a fan who was a flight attendant gave his demo tape to producer Harold Shedd, who was well-known for working with performers like Reba McEntire and Shania Twain. His "Toby Keith" first album for the label yielded four number-one country hits and was certified platinum upon reaching one million copies sold.

Despite his determination to leave a more lasting artistic impression, Mr. Keith became restless and moved between Mercury subsidiaries until 1998, when DreamWorks Records in Nashville offered him a space. This shift proved to be fortunate, as 11 of Mr. Keith's subsequent 13 singles—including the number-one hits "How Do You Like Me Now?" and "I Won't Talk About Me"—established a stronger, although fractured, persona.

This transition was completed with a broader, more expansive sound that not only matched Mr. Keith's exuberant attitude but also earned him nominations for Entertainer of the Year in 2002 and 2003 as well as 2001's Vocalist of the Year award from the Country Music Association. Did.

He established Show Dog Nashville, an independent company, in 2005. He had success with the label, especially with a string of hits including alcohol, such "Get My Drink On" and "Get drunk and be somebody." 2011 saw the country-rap song "Red Solo Cup" peak at No. 1 on the country charts and the pop top 20.

In addition to his successful song "Beer for My Horses," Mr. Keith starred in two feature films: "Broken Bridges" (2005) and "Beer for My Horses" (2008). Along with establishing successful restaurants and apparel businesses, he also starred in Ford vehicle advertisements on television. As a result, Forbes magazine dubbed him "the country's $500 million man" and featured him on its cover in 2013. According to the accompanying narrative, Mr. Keith is wealthier than Beyoncé and Jay-Z combined.

As the 2010s went on, Mr. Keith's position on the rankings decreased. He received the National Medal of Arts in 2021, along with four other individuals, including mandolinist and bluegrass vocalist Ricky Skaggs.

Mother Caroline, husband Tricia (Lucas) Keith of 39 years, two daughters, Shelley Cowell and Crystal Sandubre, a son, Stellan, a sister, Toni, a brother, Tracy, and four grandkids survive Mr. Keith.

More than a year after its release, Mr. Keith showed remarkable understanding and control in spite of his bellicose and arrogant behavior when he addressed Ms. Mains about the inconsistencies in "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue." left behind.

In an interview with CMT in 2003, Mr. Keith apologized for his involvement in the war after earlier assaulting Ms. Maines, even going so far as to screen pictures of her with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on stage at one of her performances. com.

Regarding the animosity, "it gets pretty vicious sometimes," he said. "I'm embarrassed by the way in which I let myself become drawn Report Phrase up in all this."

Reconciliation seemed likely five years later when Mr. Keith and the Chicks were recruited to be in a TV ad supporting former Vice President Al Gore's "We" initiative to combat climate change. The cooperation was reportedly ruined by schedule issues, and it never happened.