On This Date in Country Music History: Toby Keith Came Back to Nashville and Brought the Party With Him

Nine years ago today, Toby Keith came back to Nashville.

It had been thirteen years since he had headlined a concert in Music City. The reasons for the long absence were never fully explained, but the return was unmistakable. On July 20, 2017, Keith took the stage at the Ascend Amphitheater as part of his Interstates and Tailgates Tour, and the crowd that turned out for him made the wait feel worth it.

A Party Song and a Famous Friend

The timing of the Nashville show was notable for another reason. Keith had recently released a new single called "Wacky Tobaccy," written with his longtime co-writer Scotty Emerick, and the song's music video featured a cameo from Willie Nelson. Keith described the song with characteristic Toby Keith bluntness: "Wacky Tobaccy is a slogan, a saying that's been around forever and no one has ever written it in a song. The song is written to the screws, and it fits in with what we do every night with the party crowd."

That was always the thing about Toby Keith. He never overcomplicated what he was doing. He was a party, wrapped in a cowboy hat, delivering songs written for the people who worked hard all week and wanted someone to speak their language on a Friday night. The Nashville crowd that evening got exactly what they came for.

A Career Built the Hard Way

Toby Keith Covel was born on July 8, 1961, in Clinton, Oklahoma, to a family that would shape his patriotism, his work ethic, and his deep roots in the American heartland. He spent years working on an oil field in Oklahoma to support himself while pursuing music nights and weekends, eventually landing a record deal and releasing his debut single "Should've Been a Cowboy" in 1993, which went to number one. 

What followed was one of the most commercially dominant and culturally polarizing careers in country music history. He was the man who wrote "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" on the back of a fantasy football sheet in twenty minutes after September 11, 2001. He performed hundreds of USO shows overseas, in Afghanistan and Iraq, because he simply felt it was the right thing to do. He built the OK Kids Korral, housing child cancer patients near OU Medical Center through an annual golf classic that raised over fifteen million dollars.

He was, in the truest sense, a man who did things his own way and did not apologize for any of it.

The Road That Came After

The Nashville show in 2017 felt like a triumphant return. Nobody in that amphitheater knew what lay ahead. In the fall of 2021, Keith was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He spent six months in chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery before sharing the news publicly in June 2022. He continued to perform when he was able, including an emotional appearance at the People's Choice Country Awards in September 2023 that earned a standing ovation, and three sold-out shows in Las Vegas in December 2023. His last studio recording was a duet with Luke Combs on a Joe Diffie tribute album.

He passed away peacefully on February 5, 2024, surrounded by his family. He was 62. In one of the most poignant details in recent country music history, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame just hours after his death. The honor was announced one month later. He was inducted in March 2024.

Nine years ago tonight, he was back in Nashville playing for the people who had always believed in him. That is how he would have wanted to be remembered. Read his full bio on our website.