On the Cover – Toby Keith

5/5/2004 – May 2004

Label: DreamWorks
Booking: Monterey Peninsula
Management: TKO Artist Management (TK Kimbrell)
Producers: James Stroud
Current Single: “Whiskey Girl”
Current Album: Shock’N Y’all
Current Video: “Whiskey Girl”

Birth Date: July 8
Interests: Thoroughbred horses
Interesting Facts: Recorded latest album in Jimmy Buffett’s Shrimp Boat Sound Studio in Key West, Fla. Played semi-pro football for the Oklahoma City Drillers.
Special TV/Film Appearances: Super Bowl XXXVIII; Toby Keith’s Shock’N Y’All Super Bowl Party: A CMT Crossroads Special; Larry King Live, 60 Minutes II, VH-1 Driven
Awards: ACM Awards—2000 Top Male Vocalist, 2000 Album of the Year for How Do You Like Me Now?!; American Music Award—2003 Favorite Album Country Music (Unleashed); Billboard Music Awards—2002 Country Singles Artist of the Year; Multiple BMI Awards; CMA Awards—2001 Male Vocalist of the Year; Country Weekly Awards—2003 Fan Favorite Album and Video, 2002 Fan Favorite Video; CMT Flame Worthy—2003 Video, Male Video and Cocky Video, 2002 Laugh Out Loud Video; NSAI—2003 Songwriter/Artist of the Year; People’s Choice Awards—2003 Favorite Music Video
Hits: “American Soldier,” “I Love This Bar,” “Beer For My Horses”
RIAA Certifications: 4x Platinum—Unleashed; 3x Platinum—Shock’N Y’All; 2x Platinum—Pull My Chain; Platinum—How Do You Like Me Now?!, Greatest Hits Vol. 1, Blue Moon, Toby Keith; Gold—Dream Walkin’, Boomtown Musical Influences: Willie Nelson

If you look up red-hot in the dictionary, you might find a picture of Toby Keith. Not only is he the reigning Academy Of Country Music Entertainer Of The Year, he’s also one of the top country artists in concert ticket sales. He writes most of his own hits which have been omnipresent on the radio the past few years. His latest album, Shock’N Y’all, released in November 2003 has already been certified triple platinum.

Keith reveals life on the concert trail had an impact on the songwriting for his latest project.

“We were writing songs on the road, and there’s real attitude and a rockin’ edge driving this album more then anything else,” he says. “There’s not an honest-to-God ballad on the whole thing.”

The album isn’t suffering from a lack of ballads because it’s packed with hits like “I Love This Bar,” “American Soldier” and fast-rising current single “Whiskey Girl.”

“I appreciate it a lot more for all the hard work it took,” he says of his current success. “When you write your own music and have a personality people can sink their teeth into as much as your music, you can stick around for a long time. That’s just what I’m planning to do.”