Toby Keith Covel was born in Clinton, OK in 1961 and picked up a guitar when he was just eight-years-old while growing up on his farm on the fringes of Oklahoma City. Although Keith continued to love country music, he worked as a rodeo hand in high school and worked in the nearby oil fields subsequent to graduation and formed the Easy Money Band on the side. The group played their brand of country-rock music at local honky tonks while also playing semipro football for a USFL farm team. Keith finally decided to focus on music and toured extensively, releasing a few records for local independent labels and making a demo tape that wound up in the hands of onetime Alabama producer Harold Shedd. Shedd helped Keith sign with Mercury Records and the label released his eponymous debut album in 1993; the album's single "Should've Been a Cowboy" topped the country music charts.

After his debut album sold over two million copies, Keith issued "Who's That Man" (his second Number One single) followed by his sophomore album, Boomtown, in 1994. "After Boomtown went gold, Keith released a holiday album, Christmas to Christmas, in 1994 followed by his third studio effort, Blue Moon, in 1996. "Me Too" was Keith's third Number One single and caused the album to go platinum. In 1997 Keith collaborated with producer James Stroud for Dream Walkin', which spawned several hits. Two years later Keith left Mercury for the Nashville division of DreamWorks and released How Do You Like Me Now?!. The title track went straight to the top of the charts and was followed by a string of successful singles which revealed a tougher side of Keith. 2001's Pull My Chain was Keith's first Top Ten Pop Album and also the first to top the country charts with three number one singles- "I'm Just Talkin' About Tonight, "I Wanna Talk About Me" and "My List."

In 2002 Keith issued his response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the form of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" and received both condemnation and acclimation. Later that year Unleashed was a huge seller with the country Number One hit "Who's Your Daddy?." Keith continued to release rowdy country records, eventually forming his own label, Show Dog Nashville, and issuing them himself.