About Toby Keith
During the summer of 2017, Toby Keith performed in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. It was a big moment. In an interview this is what Keith said:
“It was very historical. It was the first concert by anybody from this hemisphere to ever play there.”
The concert was another feather in the cap for a country music superstar that has been doing his thing for well over two and a half decades now. Keith’s career has been built on going into unchartered territories and this is probably what sets him apart from his contemporaries as well.
Toby Keith tickets are always among the hottest commodities around when he goes on tour and it is not expected to be any different for the upcoming shows he has lined up for his fans. If you are one of them, then get your tickets and watch him live in concert.
The Early Days
Toby Keith was a fan of names like Vince Gill, Clint Black, Johnny Cash, Bob Wills and Alan Jackson among others. But if there was one name that really inspired him, it was Merle Haggard. At the Country Radio Seminar in 2017, Keith said:
"[Haggard] was tremendous, maybe the biggest influence on me. I can remember sitting in grade school — young grade school, too, like second or third grade - and my parents playing 'Okie From Muskogee' and listening to those songs."
Toby Keith relocated to Moore, Oklahoma, from Fort Smith when he was quite young. His fascination with music began during his frequent summer trips to his grandmother’s home. She was the owner of Billie Garner’s Supper Club and the artists that used to come there to perform live really fascinated young Toby Keith. After the end of the shows, he would get up on the bandstand and play with the band.
Keith was only eight years old when he first got a guitar. He then got enrolled at the Moore High School and became the school’s football team’s defensive end. He was twenty years old when he began to work in the oil fields and ultimately became an operation manager. It was during this time that a few of his friends came together and form a band named Easy Money Band. The group began to play local gigs and Keith also joined in.
The oil industry encountered a slump and Keith lost his job as a result. He took up playing football for a while but eventually decided to focus solely on music.
The Journey Begins
Toby Keith decided to move to Nashville in the first half of the 1990s and began to send copies of demo tapes Easy Money Band had recorded to various record labels. It did not work out and Keith made his way back home. Then by chance a friend of his gave a copy of a demo tape that Toby Keith had recorded to Harold Shedd who was an executive at Mercury Records and Keith landed a record deal with the label.
Keith came out with the track Should’ve Been a Cowboy and it went to the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs in 1993. His debut self-titled studio album hit the stores on April 20, 1993 and announced his arrival on the scene. The record was a huge hit that was certified platinum. He then went on to tour with John Brannen and Shania Twain.
Toby Keith then shifted to Polydor Records and released “Boomtown”, his next album in September of 1994. Containing the chart-topping track Who’s That Man, the album also went platinum in the US.
The Star Shines
His next album was titled “Blue Moon” and it was released in April of 1996. The album peaked at the eighth spot on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums and at the fifth spot on the Canadian RPM Country Albums charts. It sold over a million copies in the US to become Keith’s third successive platinum selling record. Keith proceeded to release two more albums, “Dream Walkin’” in 1997 and “Greatest Hits Volume One” in 1998.
Toby Keith then signed with DreamWorks Records and released his album “How Do You Like Me Now?!” The title track of the same name was a big hit that stayed at the top spot on the country charts for five weeks. The record went platinum in the United States.
“Pull My Chain” was the title of his next album, which was released on August 28, 2001. The record turned out to be his biggest success and earned double platinum certification from the RIAA. Three tracks from the record, My List, I Wanna Talk About Me and I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight went to the number one spot on the country charts.
Unleashed and Subsequent Years
Toby Keith then released his next album “Unleashed” in 2002. It also had a track titled Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American), which was in response to the tragic attacks on September 11, 2001. Since Keith’s deceased father was an Army veteran, those horrendous attacks hit closer to home. The song that Keith penned down in twenty minutes, went to the first position on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks. It also peaked at the twenty fifth spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified platinum.
Unleashed also contained Keith’s duet with the icon Willie Nelson, titled Beer for My Horses. The song stayed at the pinnacle of country charts for six weeks. The record was a big hit. Unleashed went quadruple platinum in the United States and occupied the top spot of both the US Billboard Top Country Albums and the US Billboard 200.
Keith has released another eleven studio albums since then. One of those has been certified four times platinum in the US, while two have gone platinum. Four other records have recorded gold level sales in the US. He has also released a total of six compilation albums throughout his career. One of those records went two times platinum in the country while his “Greatest Hits 2” recorded triple platinum level sales in the US.
The Awards
When you are as successful as Toby Keith, you are bound to win some major awards along the way. He has won four American Music Awards, two for the “Favorite Country Album” and two for the “Favorite Country Male Artist.” He has also won seven Academy of Country Music Awards and two Country Music Association Awards.
Toby Keith Tour Tickets
Even after selling more than a whopping forty million albums around the globe, Toby Keith is far from done just yet. He is still going as strong as ever and his fans will get to see him perform live in the near future. He is scheduled to perform at festivals all through 2018 and who knows he might just announce another tour! If he does, Toby Keith tour tickets will be in demand, that is for sure.
