Country singer-songwriter Toby Keith was born Toby Keith Covel in Clinton, Okla. in 1961 and began playing guitar at age 8, though he spent most of his youth on the football field, eventually playing in the ill-fated United States Football League. In 1984 Keith began a career as a professional musician in the Easy Money Band, a popular nightclub country band. Though the group was doing quite well, Keith wanted to sing his own songs, and so moved to Nashville and became a solo performer. In the early '90s he finally landed a deal with Mercury, who released Keith's eponymous debut album in 1993; the record spawned the Top 10 singles "Should've Been a Cowboy," "He Ain't Worth Missing," and "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action," and soon went platinum. Keith was named Top New Country Artist by Billboard Magazine.

Toby Keith returned in 1994 with Boomtown, a gold-selling following, and Christmas to Christmas, a collection of Christmas favorites. 1996's Blue Moon, produced by Keith himself, was another huge success, as was 1997's Dream Walkin'.