The net worth of Toby Keith, an American country singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer, is $365 million. Toby is one of the most successful country artists of the past several decades. Additionally, he is a tremendously successful entrepreneur.
Early Years
Toby Keith Covel was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, on July 8, 1961. Carolyn and Hubert Covel have three children, one daughter and two sons. As a child, even spent summers with his grandma. She was the proprietor of a supper club in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Toby was mesmerised by the musicians performing at the supper club. He received his first guitar at age eight, worked various jobs at his grandmother’s club, and finally joined the house band.
Toby and his siblings spent their formative years in Moore, Oklahoma and Fort Smith, Arkansas. His position on the Moore High School football team was defensive end. After graduating from high school, he worked as a derrick in the oil fields. Over time, he rose to the position of operations manager.
Toby created the Easy Mony Band with many mates at age 20. The band performed at local bars, while Toby continued to work in the oil fields. In 1982, he was laid off due to the oil industry’s difficult times. Toby then played defensive end with the Oklahoma City Drillers, a semi-professional football team. A couple of years later, Easy Money found regional success and began performing in Texas and Oklahoma honky tonks.
Career
Toby travelled to Nashville in the early 1990s and busked on Music Row, the city’s renowned music district. He distributed copies of his demo tape to the city’s several record labels. His demo failed to garner any interest, so he returned to Oklahoma. He had promised himself that he would get a recording contract by the time he turned 30 or abandon his career goals. Then, as chance would have it, a flight attendant who was a fan of the Easy Money Band gave his demo tape to a Mercury Records executive on a flight she was working. The executive signed Toby to a recording contract because he admired his sound.
Toby’s debut single “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” topped the country music charts in 1993. Additionally, the song reached the top 100 of the pop music charts. By the end of the 1990s, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” had been played on the radio over three million times. Yes, it was even more popular than Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart” in the 1990s.
Before departing Mercury Records in 1998, Keith recorded his first four studio albums, “Toby Keith” in 1993, “Boomtown” in 1994, “Blue Moon” in 1996, and “Dream Walkin'” in 1997, for various divisions of Mercury Records. All of these albums yielded several top ten singles.
In 1998, Keith joined with DreamWorks Records Nashville, and in late 1999, he launched his breakthrough single, “How Do You Like Me Now?!” This song, the title track from his 1999 album of the same name, topped the country charts in 2000 and was one of numerous chart-toppers during his stay on DreamWorks Nashville. His last three albums, “Pull My Chain,” “Unleashed,” and “Shock’n Y’all,” each yielded three further number one singles and were all certified four times Platinum.
Every year from 1993 through 2000, Toby released a new album. Each release sold at least 500,000 copies, while the majority sold far more. Toby secured the right to buy back his 1999 album “How Do You Like Me Now” for $93,000 after his label rejected a handful of songs from it. He then sold the rights for $200,000 to DreamWorks. “How Do You Like Me Now” afterwards sold 3,1 million copies.
Keith has recorded 19 studio albums, two Christmas albums, and five compilation albums, with over 40 million albums sold worldwide. Beer for My Horses, a duet with Willie Nelson, was a hit from his 2002 album “Unleashed,” which sold three million copies.
Entrepreneurial Career
Toby acquired a 10% share in Big Machine for $400,000 in 2004. This investment was a gamble at the time, but it paid off enormously. Next, Big Machine signed Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, and Taylor Swift. To this day, Toby Keith is compensated whenever any of Big Machine’s musicians are paid.
Don Marrandino, a Las Vegas casino tycoon, approached Toby shortly after he founded his record labels with a proposition. Marrandino desired to install a Toby Keith-themed restaurant in his casino and name it “I Love This Bar & Grill.” By the end of 2004, it was among the top 50 restaurants in the United States in terms of revenue.
For most individuals, this would enough. Unlike Toby Keith. Toby chose to enter the alcohol industry in 2007 after learning that his friend Sammy Hagar had sold his Cabo Wabo tequila brand for $80 million. He pondered launching a brand of Bourbon or vodka. Bourbon turned out to be impossible to produce at scale and the vodka market seemed excessively saturated.
Therefore, he chose Mezcal. Toby located a distributor and began to sample the many family-run mezcal distilleries. Wild Shot mezcal was introduced in March of 2011. Wild Shot was the number one premium mezcal in the United States by the conclusion of the year. Toby’s liquor business was the final component of his expanding empire. An empire that generates between $60 and $100 million every year.
Personal Life
On 24 March 1984, Keith wed Tricia Lucus. The couple has three children: daughter Shelley (born in 1980 and adopted by Keith in 1984), daughter Krystal (1985), and son Stelen (born in 1985). (born in 1997). Additionally, he has two grandchildren and one grandson through his daughter, Shelley.
Keith’s father was killed in an automobile accident on March 24, 2001. The experience, along with the events of September 11, 2001, spurred Keith to pen the controversial song “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American),” which was wildly popular among military people but caused a breach between Keith and Natalie Maines of The Dixie Chicks.
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Keith filmed a public service announcement for Little Kids Rock, a nationwide organisation that restores and revitalises music instruction in poor U.S. public schools. Keith supports Ally’s House, a non-profit organisation in Oklahoma that assists cancer-stricken children.
Salary Features
1993 saw the publication of Keith’s self-titled debut album, for which he was paid $20,000 for his first record deal. From March till December of 1993, he played 150 shows. He made $5,000-$10,000 per night. When the second hit from the record began receiving airplay, venues increased his pay to $20,000 per performance.
