Since the early 1990's Toby Keith has made a name for himself in Country music. Whether he is singing songs about the war, or just about having a good time, he is always speaking his mind. He is an unstoppable force that is never one to step down from things that he feels strongly about.

Toby Keith

"I always vote for the guy I think can get it done. And it ain't nobody's business who I vote for, but I voted for Clinton twice. And that just blows peoples minds when they hear that."

Since the early 1990's Toby Keith has made a name for himself in Country music. Whether he is singing songs about the war, or just about having a good time, he is always speaking his mind. He is an unstoppable force that is never one to step down from things that he feels strongly about.

Back in Oklahoma

Born in Clinton, Oklahoma in July of 1961 he is the middle child with an older sister and a younger brother. Although he was born in Clinton, Toby Keith grew up in Moore, Oklahoma. Once he graduated from high school he began to work with his father in the oil fields.

While in the oil field he met his wife Tricia Lucus. He adopted her daughter Shelley Reeve. Toby Keith and Tricia later had two children of their own. After their first child, the oil field went under. In order to make money he began to tour with his band, the Easy Money Band. It was not long before he went solo and signed with Mercury Records.

Big Debut

With his self titled album Toby Keith officially became an established singer and songwriter with his first single Should Have Been a Cowboy. One year later, he came out with his second album Boomtown where he got his second number one single Who's That Man. With his third album coming just two years later he got yet another number one single with Me Too. Toby Keith's fourth and final album released with Mercury records was released just a year later. No single off of the album made it to number one.

Branching Out

Once Toby Keith called it quits with Mercury Records he went on to Nashville DreamWorks in 1998. His first single with this label became his most successful. How Do You Like Me Now was the number one song of 2000. He had one more number one single left on this album with You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This. After this album he released four more under his Nashville DreamWorks label.

Seeming to have luck in threes, three out of his next four albums each had three number one hit singles. His last album with Nashville DreamWorks, titled Honkytonk University produced just one number one hit. But with six weeks at number one As Good As I Once Was was one of his biggest singles to date.

Music Aside

In addition to over a dozen albums and his own record label, Toby Keith has also been in movies. In the fall of 2005 he starred in Broken Bridges, about a country singer whose fame is coming to a close. Then, in 2008 he not only starred in another movie but wrote it as well. Beer For My Horses, based on the hit single from 2003 featured country legend Willie Nelson, also in the song.

Never one to back down from his love of America, Toby Keith has been known to feud with other musicians. During 2003 he and the Dixie Chicks butted heads over their different political views and levels of support for George W. Bush. While the lead singer of the Dixie Chicks called his hit single Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue 'ignorant' he lashed back with doctored photos of her and Saddam Hussein during concerts. This feud luckily only lasted for a few months, after Toby Keith stated that he had 'far more important things to concentrate on'.

On His Own

In 2005 DreamWorks closed down and Toby Keith found himself in need of yet another label. It was then that he created his own, Show Dog Nashville. His first album White Trash With Money was unable to produce any number one hits. With his second album Big Dog Daddy he was able to get a number one hit single while the album itself went straight to number one. The album sold over two hundred thousand copies in its first week.

Toby Keith produced his thirteenth album That Don't Make Me A Bad Guy. With two number one singles and one more in the top ten he continued to show his staying power in the country music industry. His latest album American Ride was released in October of 2009. He has already gotten one number one single with the title track.

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