R.I.P. Toby Keith (1961-2024)

[rsandcm1]

A sometimes controversial figure in the country scene, Toby Keith passed away from his cancer battle.

He sold over 30 million albums and had 42 songs reach the top ten on the Billboard charts. A number of his songs could be considered classics at this point.

He passed away the night of February 5th, surrounded by family.

[castleoblivion26]

While not entirely surprising given his battle with cancer, I am still sad to see this news this morning. One of my favorites as a child.

RIP Toby Keith.

[phil1996]

Devastating. He and Montgomery Gentry were the ones who got me into country music. An absolute legend and sad day for the world

[gonecountry]

RIP Toby Keith. His "Courtesy of the Red White and the Blue" brought me into country music after 9/11. And then I discovered his back catalogue and fell in love with pretty much everything that he had done. He did big and bold so well - I must have played "I'm Just Talking About Tonight" and "How Do You Like Me Now" a 1,000 times plus each. But he also did tender well too - songs like "We Were in Love" are incredibly moving.  So incredibly talented. I think his larger than life personality overshadowed his contributions to the music scene at times.  Toby was an incredible story teller.

He was incredibly entertaining/high energy in concert. His contributions to the morale of our military can not be understated.  A sad day for country music and America.

[Cody Wants Out...]

The cancer must've been more severe than anticipated, even though I didn't know a lot about it. Still sucks big time. Gone way too soon.

[carrieidol1]

A massive loss for Country music. One of the greatest entertainers with a boatload of hits…

From the mid 90s through most of the 2000s, you couldn’t hear three songs on country radio without hearing Toby.

May he rest in peace!

[LBTrocks]

This one really hurts. Was a big fan of his. At least he's free of all the pain now... RIP Toby.

[McCreerian]

One of my favorites growing up. First time I saw him live was opening for Reba in 1995 then later I saw him on a few of his own tours. I met him in Vegas in 2007 after the ACMs at his bar in Harrah's when my friend and me went there hoping he'd show up and he did. He took pics and sang some songs. One of the greatest Country singers ever. RIP Toby Keith!

[CoJoFan]

Toby was one of my favorite artists in the late 90's/early 2000's. He's gonna be missed. I'll leave you all with one of my favorite songs of his which happens to be one of his biggest #1 hits on Billboard, "My List" from 2002.

[rsmatto]

One of the best to ever do it. I was lucky enough to have interactions with him (in my role with Roughstock) and I will say that he was one of the “heroes” I have been able to meet. I’ve rarely had an interaction with a hero that wasn’t worth it. The point being, those who say “never meet your heroes” are wrong. If you get the chance, DO meet your heroes. Toby was too brash and honest for some but he was who he was to the end. RIP to a great artist, songwriter and family man.

[theoutsider]

The first album that I've discovered Toby was Big Dog Daddy back to 2007 when i was graduated fronm high school. This albums was my power play for the whole summer that year and I became such a fan of his entire catalogue. His videos clips directed by Michael Salomon were so epics and funny.

Maybe we can not share or agree to some of his opinions but we can't denied the fact that he contribute like no one else for country music.

Sad sad to realize that Alcohol continue to kill and destroy a lot country artists life and careers.

[HeyHeyHey]

RIP Toby Keith. “Beer for My Horses”, “I Love This Bar”, “As Good As I Once Was” and so many of Toby’s other hits were a big part of my childhood.

[slowmo]

I didn't agree with him on much, or even really like him, but I did enjoy a lot of his music. I showed my mom one of his songs 25+ years ago and that set her off on her Toby journey that dragged me along with her. I've lost track of how many concerts of his that I've been to with her and some of the adventures that we've been on together because of him. She's not big on pictures around the house but she has 3 that she proudly shows off. Her favorite one of me when I was a little squirt, one of her with my dad, and one she got with Toby years ago. We lost my dad to cancer just shy of a month ago and now Toby too. F*ck cancer.

I wish "Red Solo Cup" hadn't become the song most think of with him because his catalog is (mostly) so much better than that dang song. That stretch of albums/songs in the early 2000s was crazy but I always go back to "Should've Been A Cowboy" as my favorite from him.

[.indulgecountry]

I know he'd been doing poorly health-wise, but this news still felt so... unreal. It's always a shock to lose a legend in the genre, but especially someone like this that was SO pivotal during the time that I fell in love with country music (early 2000s) and also someone who still theoretically should've had a lot more years left on the clock before he punched out. Toby Keith had some real duds throughout his career and was never one of my favorite artists by any means, but when he was ON, he was truly great. When you cut out the nonsensical 'Murica pandering, TK had so many classics like "As Good as I Once Was," "I Love This Bar," "Love Me If You Can," "God Love Her," etc. that I'll always have in rotation. He had a great voice and contributed a lot of good stuff over the years.

Above all, he's no longer suffering and that's comforting. May he RIP.

[onebuffalo]

As they say, it all begins with a song. That first song of Toby Keith's was Should've Been A Cowboy in 1993. He signed with the Mercury label in 1992. He released Should've Been A Cowboy in February and it climbed all the way to the top in June. Three more singles were pulled from the self-titled debut album: He Ain't Worth Missing (#5), A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action (#2), and Wish I Didn't Know Now (#2). The latter two peaked in 1994. R.I.P., Keith.

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING JUNE 5, 1993:
1. SHOULD'VE BEEN A COWBOY-TOBY KEITH-MERCURY
2. Ain't That Lonely Yet-Dwight Yoakam-Reprise
3. Tell Me Why-Wynonna Judd-MCA
4. I Love The Way You Love Me-John Michael Montgomery-Atlantic
5. Hometown Honeymoon-Alabama-RCA
6. Alright Already-Larry Stewart-RCA
7. Blame It On Your Heart-Patty Loveless-Epic
8. Trouble On The Line-Sawyer Brown-Curb
9. Honky Tonk Attitude-Joe Diffie-Epic
10. That Summer-Garth Brooks-Liberty



From one Okie to another. Reba McEntire remembers Toby Keith:

[er1c612]

This is such sad news to me. I’ll echo what some have said, I didn’t agree with him on much, but I absolutely loved his music. As a 90’s baby he really feels like the first legend of the genre to pass away from my generation where I really saw his whole career play out. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but I did go to one of his concerts and really enjoyed it. A lasting memory I have is he seemingly picked a random audience member to sing with him that night, and then on stage reunited her with her husband who was in the military and had unknown to her just came back home from overseas. It was a touching moment. Like I said I didn’t agree with him on much, but I sincerely believe what he contributed to the military can not be understated and I always respected him for that. He was a giant of the industry, with so many great songs, he will truly be missed.

[rsandcm1]

I'll throw in a couple of my own thoughts here too. "Unleashed" was the very first album that I bought with my own money (I was about 10), and the song "Should've Been A Cowboy" always made me smile because as a child it seemed like he was name-checking my maternal grandparents (Roy and Jean). So Toby was never my #1 favourite artist, but he has forever had a special place in my heart.

On that note, all the haters on Twitter laughing and saying they hope he 'rots in Hell' hurts me. I fully understand their hatred of his political viewpoints, but I believe most of his views are more nuanced than he is given credit for. I certainly disagree with some of his opinions, but there were areas where he was more middle-of-the-road than the vocal opponents and hit-pieces will make you think he was.

[phil1996]

“She Ain’t Hooked On Me No More” with Merle was one of my all time favorite collabs. Can’t believe that was never singled. “We Were In Love” probably my favorite vocal performance ever from him. So many great tunes

And yeah the hateful political comments on the internet are absurd for a guy who was very publicly an independent/moderate. This guy was by no means Tritt or Isbell with his views, he just actively supported the troops

[onebuffalo]

Country stars pay tribute to Toby Keith:

[gcizvolsfan]

The last concert I have been to (if you call it a concert) was seeing Toby Keith while stationed in Iraq in 2005. I was already a Toby fan but he got so many more fans coming into a war zone and performing for the troops. Thankfully, I have pictures of that performance in my scrapbook. My favorite video was "How Do You Like Me Now?!" I was in Korea at that time so we listened to the Country Top 40 every Sunday through the Armed Forces Network.

RIP Mr. Keith! You will be missed.

[rsmatto]

Feb 6, 2024 12:54:14 GMT -5 theoutsider said:

The first album that I've discovered Toby was Big Dog Daddy back to 2007 when i was graduated fronm high school. This albums was my power play for the whole summer that year and I became such a fan of his entire catalogue. His videos clips directed by Michael Salomon were so epics and funny.

Maybe we can not share or agree to some of his opinions but we can't denied the fact that he contribute like no one else for country music.

Sad sad to realize that Alcohol continue to kill and destroy a lot country artists life and careers.

Where was it said that he was an alcoholic? He died from stomach cancer. That cancer doesn’t just hit people who drink alcohol.

[theoutsider]

Feb 9, 2024 14:02:29 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

Feb 6, 2024 12:54:14 GMT -5 theoutsider said:

The first album that I've discovered Toby was Big Dog Daddy back to 2007 when i was graduated fronm high school. This albums was my power play for the whole summer that year and I became such a fan of his entire catalogue. His videos clips directed by Michael Salomon were so epics and funny.

Maybe we can not share or agree to some of his opinions but we can't denied the fact that he contribute like no one else for country music.

Sad sad to realize that Alcohol continue to kill and destroy a lot country artists life and careers.

Where was it said that he was an alcoholic? He died from stomach cancer. That cancer doesn’t just hit people who drink alcohol.

 

I think you have no idea about the life of a country star.

Check about: Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jake Owen, Keith Urban, Charles kelley, Brad Paisley, Brantley Gilbert, Chris Janson, among others who were forced to stop alcohol and being sober to save their lives and careers.

[gardyfan]

Feb 9, 2024 16:35:03 GMT -5 theoutsider said:

Feb 9, 2024 14:02:29 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

Where was it said that he was an alcoholic? He died from stomach cancer. That cancer doesn’t just hit people who drink alcohol.

 

I think you have no idea about the life of a country star.

Check about: Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jake Owen, Keith Urban, Charles kelley, Brad Paisley, Brantley Gilbert, Chris Janson, among others who were forced to stop alcohol and being sober to save their lives and careers.

Just because any of those may have had alcohol issues doesn't mean Toby did. Cancer can be caused by different things. I'm facing a colon cancer scare myself and have never been a smoker, drinker, etc. It is reckless to go down that route and assume that drinking is what caused it. 

[onebuffalo]

For gardyfan: I hope you're doing much better now. A mother/son moment:

[theoutsider]

Feb 9, 2024 17:16:32 GMT -5 gardyfan said:

Feb 9, 2024 16:35:03 GMT -5 theoutsider said:

 

I think you have no idea about the life of a country star.

Check about: Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jake Owen, Keith Urban, Charles kelley, Brad Paisley, Brantley Gilbert, Chris Janson, among others who were forced to stop alcohol and being sober to save their lives and careers.

 I'm facing a colon cancer scare myself

Get well.

[onebuffalo]

One of my classmates posted this on her Facebook page: