Nation music star Toby Keith, who dominated the charts within the Nineties and 2000s with a string of hits, has died at 62. The singer had been identified with abdomen most cancers.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The nation star Toby Keith has died on the age of 62. The singer introduced in 2022 that he was present process therapy for abdomen most cancers. NPR’s Isabella Gomez Sarmiento has this remembrance.
ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Toby Keith fell in love with music whereas working at his grandmother’s Arkansas supper membership, the place he’d generally be part of bands on stage. After years of enjoying in a gaggle referred to as Simple Cash Band within the Nineteen Eighties, Keith’s solo debut single, “Ought to’ve Been a Cowboy,” put him on the map in 1993.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY”)
TOBY KEITH: (Singing) I ought to’ve been a cowboy. I ought to’ve discovered to rope and trip.
SARMIENTO: In a video he not too long ago shared on X, Keith recounted how the tune got here to him whereas watching considered one of his searching buddies attempt to win over a woman at a bar.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KEITH: His title was John. And he jumped up his searching garments and ran over to seize this cowgirl to bounce. She turned him down. And on the best way again to the desk, we have been laughing. And a few – one of many guys hollered, John, it is best to’ve been a cowboy. And so I believed, I will write that.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “SHOULD’VE BEEN A COWBOY”)
KEITH: (Singing) I would’ve had a sidekick with a humorous title operating wild by way of the hills chasing Jesse James.
SARMIENTO: The tune climbed to No. 1 on the nation charts. All through the subsequent twenty years, Keith had a slew of hits, together with “Beer For My Horses,” a duet with Willie Nelson…
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BEER FOR MY HORSES”)
TOBY KEITH AND WILLIE NELSON: (Singing) We’ll increase up our glasses towards evil forces, singing, whiskey for my males, beer for my horses.
SARMIENTO: …And “American Soldier.”
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “AMERICAN SOLDIER”)
KEITH: (Singing) I am an American soldier, an American.
SARMIENTO: Pop Tradition Comfortable Hour host Stephen Thompson says Keith’s affect in nation music during the last three a long time has left an immeasurable mark on the style.
STEPHEN THOMPSON, BYLINE: He made music with an eye fixed towards the hugest attainable viewers. And I feel he expressed sentiments with an eye fixed towards the common.
SARMIENTO: Into the 2000s, Keith’s songs turned extra political. His 2002 hit, “Courtesy Of The Crimson, White And Blue,” responded to the 9/11 assaults.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “COURTESY OF THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE (THE ANGRY AMERICAN)”)
KEITH: (Singing) Hey, Uncle Sam. Put your title on the high of his listing. And the Statue of Liberty began shaking her fist.
SARMIENTO: …And stoked a feud with the then-Dixie Chicks concerning the invasion of Iraq. Stephen Thompson once more.
THOMPSON: He obtained extra politically outspoken. And nonetheless, his personal politics weren’t all the time that simple to pin down.
SARMIENTO: In 2015, Keith was inducted into the Songwriters Corridor of Fame. He continued to carry out even whereas in therapy for abdomen most cancers. Toby Keith died in his house state of Oklahoma. He is survived by his spouse, three kids and 4 grandchildren. Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR Information.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “DON’T LET THE OLD MAN IN”)
KEITH: (Singing) I wanna dwell me some extra.
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