Toby Keith named Billboard’s No. 1 Country Artist of the Decade
Hot off the heels of his two-week sold-out debut European tour, Oklahoma superstar Toby Keith has been named Billboard’s No. 1 Country Artist of the Decade and No. 1 Country Songwriter of the Decade, according to a news release.
Keith also ranked among the top selling artists in all-genres, landing at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Artists of the Decade. This year alone ushered in benchmarked single chart success, sold-out tours around the world and continued support for his community. And all the hard work since the 21st century began has proven to bring the highest levels of industry success.
In addition to the Billboard artist and songwriter of the decade titles, Toby was honored this year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, which awarded him its prestigious Songwriter/Artist of the Decade Award (2000 -09) for his hits including “How Do You Like Me Now,” “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American),” “Beer For My Horses,” “I Love This Bar,” “As Good As I Once Was” and “God Love Her.”
These top honors join the accolades awarded to the Norman resident throughout the last 10 years, which include being inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. The Academy of Country Music named him Entertainer of the Year twice consecutively, and gave the film that Keith starred in, co-wrote and co-produced,” Beer For My Horses,” its Tex Ritter Award that recognizes a movie that utilizes country music and received widespread exposure. He is also a three-time BMI Country Artist/Songwriter of the Year, with his catalog generating more than 65 million performances.
In this decade, Keith’s singles have spent more than a year at No. 1 on the charts, giving the singer-songwriter a No. 1 smash every year since his debut single “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” hit the top of the charts in 1993.
This year, he landed the 27th No. 1 single of his career and 16th of this decade, with “American Ride,” the title track off his 15th studio album that debuted at the top of the Country Albums chart.
On the road, his 2009 “America’s Toughest Tour,” presented by Ford F Series, played to more than a million people, marking the ninth consecutive year the hard-touring artist will cross the impressive million-ticket threshold. Overseas, Keith embarked on his first European tour in November and sold-out a two-week run that included nine shows in six countries.
He recently returned to Norway where he performed at the 16th annual Nobel Peace Prize concert.
Keith also journeyed this year to the Persian Gulf on his seventh consecutive USO tour, visiting small, remote forward-operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan and performing 17 shows in 11 days. Since working with the organization in 2002, he has traveled to more than 10 countries, participated in more than 128 events and entertained more than 118,000 service members.
In recognition of his service here and abroad, this year, Toby received the Military Officers Association of America Distinguished Service Award for his exceptional support of military people and the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation’s Johnny “Mike” Spann Memorial Semper Fidelis Award for being “always faithful” in his loyalty to and support of America’s troops.
Closer to home, he pledged his support for the sixth straight year for Oklahoma children with cancer by hosting the 2009 Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic benefiting Ally’s House. To date, the annual summer event has raised nearly $3 million for the organization Keith helped establish. Norman-based Ally’s House assists pediatric cancer patients and their families throughout the state.
Beyond music, Keith has also starred in two successful major motion pictures, owns a chain of restaurants as well as his own record label, and recently launched his own clothing line.
In addition, Keith’s publicist has confirmed that the star’s Show Dog Nashville label is merging with Universal South Records.
-BAM
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Comments
Glad to see Toby getting the recognition he deserves for his decade of hard work and perservance. Looking forward to the next decade of Toby Keith. Thanks for posting the article Brandy.
Toby is one of the good ole boys. How can you not like him? Music is one thing and it is great but if you can take the power fame can genereate and use it to help other… that’s good stuff!
It couldn’t happen to a better person. He has worked hard to achieve what he has over the last ten years. He is my favorite singer. I have all his albums and play them often.