Toby Keith, born Toby Keith Covel July 8, 1961 in Clinton Oklahoma, passed away yesterday, February 5, 2024 at 62 from his battle with stomach cancer. His family moved for Fort Smith, Arkansas for a few years, and then moved to Moore, Oklahoma. This is where he began his love for music, watching the live musicians who played at his grandmothers club in Fort Smith.
After graduating from Moore High School, he worked in the oil fields, and formed a band with some friends. They played at local bars until the oil industry tanked. He played football for the semi-pro Oklahoma City Drillers, but continued to perform with his band Easy Money Band.
He got his break in 1993 when his debut single Should've Been a Cowboy went to #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Over the course of his career he released over 20 albums. In 2001, Keith won the Academy of Country Music's Top Male Vocalist and Album of the Year.
In December 2011, he was named Artist of the Decade by the American Country Awards. In September 2023, he received the first Country Icon Award at the inaugural Peoples Choice Country Awards.
I met Toby Keith in September 2011 at a New York Jets game. We were guests of then-head coach Rex Ryan and watched the game from his booth. We found out that Toby was delivered by the same doctor that delivered me and my sister. We were all born in Oklahoma General Hospital in Clinton, Oklahoma.
