Toby Keith, the nation music singer and songwriter identified for his larger-than-life character, died Monday. He was 62.
He “handed peacefully final night time on Feb. 5, surrounded by his household,” learn his official web site, asserting his loss of life. “He fought his battle with grace and braveness.”
Keith was identified with abdomen most cancers in 2022.
The Nashville star’s nation hits included the likes of “Who’s Your Daddy?,” “Courtesy of the Purple, White and Blue,” “Beer for My Horses” and “Made in America.”
Extra lately, he carried out on the Individuals’s Selection Nation Awards in September, when he obtained the Nation Icon Award.
Keith usually made headlines with political feedback. In August 2008, for instance, earlier than Barack Obama turned U.S. president, the music star referred to as him “one of the best Democratic candidate we’ve had since Invoice Clinton.” He later expressed his admiration for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and stated he had left the Democratic Celebration and registered as unbiased.
Keith carried out at President Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration live performance at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial in 2017.
Following the information of Keith’s loss of life breaking in a single day, tributes from the nation music world and past poured in on Tuesday.
Born Toby Keith Covel on July 8, 1961, in Clinton, Oklahoma, he launched his first studio album in 1993 underneath the title Toby Keith. He was signed to DreamWorks Data Nashville in 1998 and launched the breakthrough single “How Do You Like Me Now?!” in 1999.
Keith additionally earned some performing credit. For instance, he starred in TV commercials for Telecom USA and Ford.
He was featured within the 2006 movie Damaged Bridges, directed by Steven Goldmann and launched by Paramount/CMT Movies. The film is ready in small-town Tennessee, with Keith enjoying Bo Value, a washed-up nation musician. The film additionally stars Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Tess Harper and Lindsey Haun.
Keith additionally co-wrote and starred within the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, based mostly on his 2003 hit with Willie Nelson, for CMT Movies and others, and distributed by Roadside Points of interest within the U.S. Additionally that includes Claire Forlani, Rodney Carrington and Ted Nugent, the film tells the story of two associates who work as deputies in a small city, defy the sheriff and head off on a street journey to save lots of considered one of their girlfriends from drug lord kidnappers.
The nation star’s feud with the Dixie Chicks over his music “Courtesy of the Purple, White, & Blue (The Indignant American),” written in late 2001 and impressed by Keith’s father’s loss of life and the Sept. 11 assaults, additionally went down in music historical past. Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines stated that Keith’s music was “ignorant, and it makes nation music sound ignorant.” Keith then displayed a backdrop at his concert events displaying a doctored photograph of Maines with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. In 2003, Maines wore a T-shirt with the letters “FUTK” to the Academy of Nation Music Awards. A rep stated they stood for “Associates United in Reality and Kindness,” however she later admitted it stood for “Fuck You Toby Keith.”
Keith additionally made appearances for Whole Nonstop Motion Wrestling, then often known as NWA-TNA. On a June 2002 present, he performed “Courtesy of the Purple, White and Blue” earlier than being interrupted by wrestling star Jeff Jarrett. Keith later that night time entered the so-called “Gauntlet for the Gold” primary occasion, eliminating Jarrett from the match. The next week, Keith helped one other wrestler, Scott Corridor, defeat Jarrett in a singles match.
