Toby Keith

Toby KeithToby worked in the oil industry and played defensive end with the Oklahoma City Drillers United States Football League (USFL) team. In 1984, he turned to music full time, playing the honky-tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas with the band Easy Money. Toby's 1993 debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy," went to No. 1 on the Billboard country singles chart, and his self-titled debut album was certified platinum. He released a second album, Boomtown, in 1994. The gold-selling collection produced the No. 1 hit "Who's That Man" and the Top 5 hit "You Ain't Much Fun." The platinum-selling Blue Moon followed in 1996, featuring introspective tunes like "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You" and "Me Too." Releasing Dream Walkin' in 1997, the bittersweet ballad, "When We Were in Love," went to No. 2, as did a cover version of rocker Sting's divorce ode "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying." The duet earned the unlikely pair a Grammy nomination, and Sting joined Toby for a performance on the 1997 CMA Awards telecast. The double-platinum success of How Do You Like Me Now?! earned Toby some long-awaited award nominations. Toby won two Academy of Country Music awards in 2000, for male vocalist and album. In 2001, he won his first CMA award, for male vocalist. His 2001 album, Pull My Chain, produced three No. 1 hits, "I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight," "I Wanna Talk About Me" and "My List." Toby was also nominated for six Academy of Country Music awards in 2001. The events of 9/11 prompted Keith to write "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)," a song about his father's patriotism that pulled no punches. As the lead single from the 2002 album Unleashed, the song peaked at No. 1 over the Independence Day weekend. The 2002 album Unleashed sold 3 million copies, due to the feisty 'Who's Your Daddy?", the hugely popular Willie Nelson duet "Beer for My Horses" and relentless touring. He also joined Nelson, one of Keith's heroes, at Farm Aid 2002 in Pittsburgh.