History Music / TobyKeith

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His Mercury-era material is a lot more downbeat and reliant on ballads than the swaggering, patriotic personality he soon became known for upon moving to [=DreamWorks=]. In fact, his first [=DreamWorks=] album, despite containing his biggest hit in "How Do You Like Me Now?!", still contains a lot of old-style ballads and none of the swaggering patriotism.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: Oddly, most radio stations had no issue with him singing the word "ass" in "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue", but that word ''was'' edited out of "American Ride" (which changed it to "Daddy works his ''can'' off") and muted on "Red Solo Cup".
** "Red Solo Cup" also changed "And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles" to "pair of ''vegetables''", presumably for RuleOfFunny.
** The chorus to "Drunk Americans", which occurs three times, has the line "we don't give a rat's ass". It was originally muted all three times for the radio edit, but a later version changed the first and third instances to "we don't care, we don't ask" and the second to "we don't judge, we don't laugh."

* [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Face-Heel Revolving Door]]: Toby Keith pulled the musical equivalent a few years back. His music used to be clean and family-friendly, but for the last several years he's taken on a "bad boy" image and run with it, along with lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek music videos accompanying them, starting with low-level GettingCrapPastTheRadar ("Getcha Some") and gradually progressing to the point where just about any new song from him sounded like pure Straw Conservative propaganda, was a blatant exercise in CrossesTheLineTwice, or both. Somewhere around his departure from [=DreamWorks=], he began to soften again, with occasional exceptions such as "American Ride," which at least had the decency to lampoon both ends of the political spectrum.

After [=DreamWorks=] records closed in 2005, he seamlessly moved to his own label, Show Dog Records (now part of Show Dog-{{Universal}} Music). Although the hits have slowed some, he still managed to get a few more chart-toppers independently. Keith also scored a surprise viral crossover in 2011 when he made a video for "Red Solo Cup", which then dovetailed into radio airplay, but momentum since has slowed greatly.

* BrokenStreak: Only three times in his career has he hit a point where he didn't even make Top 40 on the country charts. The first was in 1999, just as he was leaving Mercury and had put out two sides for a GreatestHitsAlbum. The second of those, "If a Man Answers", stalled at #44. (Although only two singles prior, "Double Wide Paradise" only ''barely'' kept the streak alive, as it stopped right at #40.) And just as he moved to [=DreamWorks=], he released "When Love Fades", which was moving slowly on the charts. It also ended up peaking at #44 because he asked that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", which went on to become the biggest country hit of 2000.

A change to Creator/DreamWorks Records initially flopped, with his first single for the label not even cracking Top 40. But at his insistence, it was withdrawn for one of the songs Mercury had rejected, "How Do You Like Me Now?!", which went on to become a six-week #1 smash and the biggest country hit of 2000. For the next five years, almost everything he released topped the charts and saw considerable crossover success. It was also at this point that he developed his more macho, swaggering style with edgier material such as the CountryRap "I Wanna Talk About Me" and the playful "Who's Your Daddy?", but the sensitive side never went away either, as seen in "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This" or "My List". Along the way, he hit big with the controversial "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)" and the Music/WillieNelson duet "Beer for My Horses", which made Nelson the oldest country act to have a #1 hit.

* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: Averted. "Beer For My Horses" seems like this, but it actually has a lot of basis in reality. Horse breeders have always given horses beer (Guinness is the preferred brand) as an appetite stimulant. The amount of alcohol in a bottle of Guinness, which is about enough to make a 150-pound man feel pleasantly mellow, will do nothing to a horse which weighs ten times as much and naturally produces huge amounts of enzymes that break down alcohol. The ingredients in beer (grains, hops, yeast and water) are all things a horse will gladly eat on its own, given the chance.

** "Red Solo Cup" also changed, "And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles" to "pair of ''vegetables''."

* {{Eagleland}}: Some of his songs "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue", "American Ride", "Made in America", etc. after his FaceHeelTurn (see below) fall straight into this category. (However, "American Ride" at least [[PlayedForLaughs plays it for laughs]].)
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His Mercury-era material is a lot more downbeat and reliant on ballads than the swaggering, patriotic personality he soon became known for upon moving to [=DreamWorks=].

* MockingSingSong: The Hammond organ plays this during the fade-out of "How Do You Like Me Now?!"

* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: "You Ain't Much Fun" uses this trope:

* ChristmasSongs: He's recorded two holiday albums thus far, ''Christmas to Christmas'' and ''A Classic Christmas''.

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: His second Christmas album. One disc is more secular stuff like "Frosty the Snowman" and the other is more religious stuff like "Silent Night".

* RecordProducer: He was produced by Nelson Larkin and Harold Shedd on his first two albums, then co-produced with just Larkin on the third. He co-produced with James Stroud from ''Dream Walkin''' through ''Honkytonk University'' (1997-2006), then mostly self-produced afterward.

* EagleLand: Some of his songs "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue", "American Ride", "Made in America", etc. after his FaceHeelTurn (see below) fall straight into this category. (However, "American Ride" at least [[PlayedForLaughs plays it for laughs]].)

* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: Toby Keith pulled the musical equivalent a few years back. His music used to be clean and family-friendly, but for the last several years he's taken on a "bad boy" image and run with it, along with lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek music videos accompanying them, starting with low-level GettingCrapPastTheRadar ("Getcha Some") and gradually progressing to the point where just about any new song from him sounded like pure Straw Conservative propaganda, was a blatant exercise in CrossesTheLineTwice, or both. Somewhere around his departure from [=DreamWorks=], he began to soften again, with occasional exceptions such as "American Ride," which at least had the decency to lampoon both ends of the political spectrum.

-->You even made me a list and I'm bustin' my…
-->Well, all broke down, tail's been draggin'…

* WrestlerInAllOfUs: A non music example, in the early 2000's Toby made a couple of appearances in TNA Wrestling, culminating with him delivering an impressive looking vertical suplex to JeffJarrett.

** "Drunk Americans" originally muted "ass" in the line "we don't give a rat's ass" but a later edit changed the first and third instances to "we don't care, we don't ask" and the second to "we don't judge, we don't laugh."

* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: Toby Keith pulled the musical equivalent a few years back. His music used to be clean and family-friendly, but for the last several years he's taken on a "bad boy" image and run with it, starting with low-level GettingCrapPastTheRadar ("Getcha Some") and gradually progressing to the point where just about any new song from him sounded like pure Straw Conservative propaganda, was a blatant exercise in CrossesTheLineTwice, or both. Somewhere around his departure from [=DreamWorks=], he began to soften again, with occasional exceptions such as "American Ride," which at least had the decency to lampoon both ends of the political spectrum.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/toby-keith_5987.jpg

After [=DreamWorks=] records closed in 2005, he seamlessly moved to his own label, Show Dog Records (now part of Show Dog-{{Universal}} Music). Although the hits have slowed some, he's still a fairly consistent presence on the country charts, even returning to the top occasionally without overly significant changes in his style. Keith scored a surprise viral crossover in 2011 when he made a video for "Red Solo Cup", which then dovetailed into radio airplay.

A prominent CountryMusic singer, Toby Keith Covel was born July 8, 1961. He started out rather strongly on the Mercury label, sending his debut single "Should've Been a Cowboy" to #1. This song went on to become the most-played country song of the entire 1990s, but Toby proved to be no OneHitWonder. For the rest of the decade, he stayed with Mercury, landing hit after hit with remarkable consistency.

Although he started to slip in the late 1990s, a change to Creator/DreamWorks Records brought him an even bigger hit in "How Do You Like Me Now?!", which started the second leg of his career. For the next five years, almost everything he released topped the charts and saw considerable crossover success. Along the way, he hit big with the controversial "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)" and the WillieNelson duet "Beer for My Horses". After [=DreamWorks=] records closed in 2005, he seamlessly moved to his own label, Show Dog Records (now part of Show Dog-{{Universal}} Music). Although the hits have slowed some, he's still a fairly consistent presence on the country charts.

* {{Bowdlerize}}: Oddly, most radio stations had no issue with him singing the word "ass" in "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue", but that word ''was'' edited out of "American Ride" (which changed it to "Daddy works his ''can'' off") and muted on both "Red Solo Cup" and "Drunk Americans".

* ChristmasMusic: He's recorded two holiday albums thus far, ''Christmas to Christmas'' and ''A Classic Christmas''.

* PoesLaw: His war on Christmas song, "Have I Got A Present For You" which he performed on TheColbertReport has been treated as if it's actually serious by many, despite promoting murder and generally being as parodic of EagleLand as you can get. There's also the aforementioned "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue".

* {{Bowdlerize}}: "And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles / If you prefer drinkin' from glass" in "Red Solo Cup". The word becomes, of all things, "vegetables". Oddly, "ass" is also censored in the next line, even though radio was perfectly fine with him saying that same word in "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" 10 years ago.
** And in between, "American Ride" had to change "Daddy works his ass off" to "…can off". Oddly, his 2014 single "Drunk Americans" leaves "we don't give a rat's ass" alone.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" is so very, ''very'' obviously tied to the era immediately after 9/11.

** And in between, "American Ride" had to change "Daddy works his ass off" to "…can off".

Although he started to slip in the late 1990s, a change to Creator/DreamWorks Records brought him an even bigger hit in "How Do You Like Me Now?!", which started the second leg of his career. For the next five years, almost everything he released topped the charts and saw considerable crossover success. Along the way, he hit big with the controversial "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)" and the WillieNelson duet "Beer for My Horses". Even the closure of [=DreamWorks=]' music division didn't harm his career too much, as he seamlessly moved to his own label, Show Dog Records (now part of Show Dog-{{Universal}} Music). Although the hits have slowed some, he's still a consistent presence on the country charts.

* BrokenStreak: Only twice in his career has he hit a point where he didn't even make Top 40 on the country charts. The first was in 1999, just as he was leaving Mercury and had put out two sides for a GreatestHitsAlbum. The second of those, "If a Man Answers", stalled at #44. (Although only two singles prior, "Double Wide Paradise" only ''barely'' kept the streak alive, as it stopped right at #40.) And just as he moved to [=DreamWorks=], he released "When Love Fades", which was moving slowly on the charts. It also ended up peaking at #44 because he asked that it be withdrawn and replaced with "How Do You Like Me Now?!", which went on to become the biggest country hit of 2000.

* PoesLaw: His war on Christmas song, "Have I Got A Present For You" which he performed on TheColbertReport has been treated as if it's actually serious by many, despite promoting murder and generally being as parodic of EagleLand as you can get.

* RecordProducer: He was produced by Nelson Larkin and Harold Shedd on his first two albums, then co-produced with Larkin on the third. He co-produced with James Stroud from ''Dream Walkin''' through ''Honkytonk University'' (1997-2006), then mostly self-produced afterward.