Born 65 Years Ago Today in the Sooner State, the Oilfield Worker Who Busked on Music Row Before Becoming a Country Superstar

On this day (July 8) in 1961, Toby Keith was born in Clinton, Oklahoma. He had an early interest in music, but didn’t try to make it in Music City until he as in his 30s. Before that, he worked in the oilfields, played semi-pro football, and fronted a band that played the Oklahoma honky tonk circuit. In the early 1990s, he moved to Nashville, where he busked along Music Row until he secured a record deal and quickly shot to stardom.

Keith got his first taste of the stage when he was a child. His family lived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, when he was in elementary school. His grandmother owned a supper club there, and the future country star did odd jobs and sat in with the house band. Before long, his family relocated to a suburb of Oklahoma City. However, those early days on the stage never left his memory.

According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Keith worked as a rodeo hand while he was in high school. After he graduated, he went to the oilfields, where he started as a derrick hand and eventually became a supervisor. While working in the oil industry, he and a few friends formed the Easy Money Band and played local bars.

Toby Keith Heads to Nashville

In 1982, the petroleum industry declined and Keith lost his job. Knowing he had to do something, he fell back on the gridiron talent he honed in high school and tried out for a handful of pro and semi-pro football teams. Eventually, he signed on with the Oklahoma City Drillers. At the same time, he continued playing regionally with his band. The band mostly played covers, but Keith had already started writing songs. So, they were able to perform a handful of originals. They also recorded some of those songs.

In the late 1980s, Toby Keith began traveling to Nashville to shop his original songs around Music Row. While he was there, he would find a spot and busk, playing and singing his songs to passersby. However, it wasn’t this hard work that led to his initial deal with Mercury Records. Instead, a passionate fan made the magic happen.

A fan of Keith’s from the honky tonk circuit, who happened to be a flight attendant, met Mercury executive Harold Shedd on a flight. She passed him a tape of Keith’s band. As a result, hopped a flight to Oklahoma to see him perform. Impressed by what he saw and heard, Shedd offered Keith a record deal.

The Hard Work Paid Off

All those years of honing his skills, writing songs, and waiting for his big break paid off in 1993. That February, he released “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” as the lead single from his self-titled debut album. In June, it topped the Hot Country Songs chart and stayed at No. 1 for two consecutive weeks. Toby Keith would go on to send 19 more songs to the top of the chart, many of which he wrote or co-wrote.

Over the course of his career, Keith took home more than a dozen ACM Awards, including multiple Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year trophies. He also notched three CMA Awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year. In 2021, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

The Toby Keith Foundation

Keith’s legacy doesn’t just live on in the music he made. In 2019, he told The Oklahoman that his greatest accomplishment was the Toby Keith Foundation.

He established the foundation in 2006 to fund housing for pediatric cancer patients and their families. Seven years later, they built the OK Kids Korral for children receiving cancer treatment at the OU Medical Center. Over the years, his Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic raised millions of dollars for the foundation.

Keith died in 2024 after his own battle with cancer, leaving behind a legacy that will live forever in those who loved his music, as well as the families who were touched by his charitable works.

Featured Image by Christopher Polk/ACA2011/Getty Images for ACA

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