It’s time for another Country Music Fact of the Day! On September 22, 2002, Toby Keith, The Big Dog Daddy, sings the national anthem before the first regular-season NFL game at Detroit’s Ford Field. The Green Bay Packers trip the hometown Lions, 37-31. Now I will brag a bit, I am a Packers Fan and a Toby Keith fan, So having Toby sing the anthem and having the Green Bay Packers beat the Lions at the first-ever game played in the new dome called Ford Field is worth bragging about. This got me thinking about Toby Keith and His Career
Toby Keith
His full name, Toby Keith Covel, Born in Clinton Oklahoma but called and still calls, Moore Oklahoma home. After high school, Toby worked in the oil fields of Oklahoma while also forming his first band, “The Easy Money Band”
In the early 80’s when the oil business bellied up, Toby went back to his Jr high and high school love of playing football. He played defensive end with the semi-pro team, The Oklahoma City Drillers while still playing with “The Easy Money Band”
Toby Moves To Nashville
Toby decided in the early 90’s it was time to move to Nashville and see if he could make it.! A flight attendant and fan of his gave a copy of Keith’s demo tape to Harold Shedd from Mercury Records Nashville while he was traveling on a flight she was working. Shedd loved what he heard, He went to see Toby play live and then signed him to a recording contract with Mercury.
Toby’s demo that they fell in love with features, “Should Have Been A Cowboy”, “Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine On You”, “He Ain’t Worth Missing” and “A Little Less Talk”. Other than Mercury Records, every label in Nashville said no to Toby and told him to go back home to Oklahoma. I guess he showed them right?
So Just What Has Toby Done In His Career
19 studio albums, 2 Christmas Albums, 5 Greatest Hits Albums, Sold over 60 million albums, 69 charted songs, 20 number one songs, and 20 more that went top 1o. Oh, and by the way, “Should Have Been A Cowboy”, went on to be the most-played country song of the entire 1990s!
We could talk all day about Toby and his love for America, His numerous trips overseas to play for the troops, his business dealings, his feud with the Dixie Chicks and the list goes on and on.
Toby made a big announcement back in the summer that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and had been having chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for the past six months. We continue to pray for Toby and his recovery.
Let’s look back on just what Toby Keith has done!
