Current:Home > FinanceToby Keith's Nashville legacy reflected in new NBC tribute special -FinanceMind
Toby Keith's Nashville legacy reflected in new NBC tribute special
View
Date:2025-04-16 15:41:43
Country stars from Luke Bryan to Lainey Wilson celebrated Toby Keith during a two-hour NBC special that now is streaming on Peacock.
"Toby Keith: American Icon" — a two-hour NBC special recorded in July in Nashville — honored the artist who died on Feb. 5 after a nearly 20-month bout with stomach cancer.
Performers at the event include Carrie Underwood ("A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action"), Eric Church ("As Good as I Once Was"), Brantley Gilbert and HARDY (collaborating on "How Do You Like Me Now?!"), Riley Green and Ella Langley ("Who's Your Daddy?"), and Ashley McBryde ("Wish I Didn't Know Now").
In a rare appearance in a black cowboy hat, Luke Bryan sang "Should've Been a Cowboy." Lainey Wilson rode her "Yellowstone" horse, Cowboy, to the stage to join Jamey Johnson for "Beer for My Horses." Darius Rucker joined for "God Love Her," Jordan Davis and Clay Walker paired for "I Love This Bar" and Tyler Hubbard joined Jelly Roll, HARDY, Jordan Davis, songwriters Jim and Brett Beavers, and the Warren Brothers for "Red Solo Cup."
Keith's enduring legacy
The vibe from the event highlighted Keith as not just a 20-time country music chart-topper, entertainer, proud patriot and supporter of the U.S. military.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Instead, a critical inflection point a decade into his career, where doubling down on his vision as a creator and savvy as an entrepreneur yielded incredible rewards, became worth revisiting.
This year would've marked Keith entering the fourth decade of his mainstream country career. Two decades prior, Keith cashed in on the power of his influence over American pop culture.
Country music, Nashville as that industry's hub and the nation at large have yet to recover.
How to watch the Toby Keith special
The show initially aired on NBC on August 28. It now is available for streaming on Peacock.
A lucrative artist-as-brand
Between June 2002 and December 2004, Keith sold well over 20 million albums and singles combined. It was keyed by 2002's post-9/11 anthem "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (the Angry American)." However, the record's B-side, "Who's Your Daddy," also achieved chart-topping status.
The latter's combination of honky-tonk zydeco funk, rockabilly and R&B grooves reinvigorated the power of Keith's mega-successful 1990s country catalog.
Add to that the Western tropes and outlaw vibes of "Beer for My Horses," plus a power ballad double-down on patriotism via "American Soldier." With the total impact of those songs alone, in sound and style, Keith becomes emblematic of not just country success but of the most beloved, unforgettable parts of the mythology surrounding late 20th century American exceptionalism.
Ultimately, that success made him as lucrative of an American music brand in the early 2000s as Bon Jovi or Madonna.
By 2010, Keith's June 2005-debuted I Love This Bar and Grill name-branded bar and restaurant concept — named for his 2003 single "I Love This Bar" — had been franchised to over a half-dozen locations in airports, casinos and shopping centers nationwide.
The restaurant tripled its opening month's revenue target and quickly became one of America's top 50-grossing restaurants. According to Forbes, Keith initially grossed $12 million yearly from his restaurants from name-licensing agreements and a cut of restaurant revenues.
About the opening of a 20,000-square-foot dining and entertainment venue with an 85-foot-guitar bar in Phoenix in 2009, an attendee, Norma Ross, noted to Metromix Phoenix that Keith "(melted her) butter."
"He's not phony or pretentious."
Nashville's Lower Broadway mirrors Keith's legacy
After suffering financial difficulties between 2014 and 2020, only two I Love This Bar and Grill locations remain open in Oklahoma.
However, by 2013, Forbes estimated that Keith had never earned less than $48 million a year and surpassed $500 million in total wealth.
Keith's development of an "unpretentious" brand driven by such incredible wealth has a modern analogy on Nashville's Lower Broadway.
By 2025, the names of 17 country music stars, from Hank Williams Jr., Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks to Jason Aldean, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert, plus Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, will be plastered on bars along Lower Broadway.
In 2023, 15 million tourists — many of whom are lured by destination honky-tonks like those listed previously — spent over $300 million in Davidson County.
To grow that revenue, in many ways, June's Music City Strategic Plan, released by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., will continue to mirror Keith's successful blueprint to become a tourism industry leader, as nearly two dozen star bars already have.
Regarding Nashville's growth potential when considered under the guide of Keith's legacy, a quote from his longtime producer, James Stroud, says it best: "Toby is his own man. He knows what he wants to say and what the people want to hear."
veryGood! (654)
Related
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Georgia deputy fatally shoots 'kind' man who served 16 years for wrongful conviction
- 3 face federal charges in bizarre South Florida kidnapping plot
- Exonerated man looked forward to college after prison. A deputy killed him during a traffic stop
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Taxpayers in 13 states can file income taxes with the IRS for free in 2024. Here's how.
- Musk’s X tests $1 fee for new users in the Philippines and New Zealand in bid to target spam
- Malaysia says landslide that killed 31 people last year was caused by heavy rain, not human activity
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Dozens of WWII shipwrecks from Operation Dynamo identified in Dunkirk channel: It's quite an emotional feeling
Ranking
- Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
- Four killed in multicar crash on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu
- Britney Spears Reveals Why She Really Shaved Her Head in 2007
- Reba McEntire claims she's 'not the best.' As a coach on 'The Voice', she's here to learn
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Ex-Michigan gubernatorial candidate sentenced to 2 months behind bars for Capitol riot role
- Hurry, Givenchy's Cult Favorite Black Magic Lip Balm Is Back in Stock!
- Stock market today: World markets edge lower as China reports slower growth in the last quarter
Recommendation
Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
Love Is Blind Villain Uche Answers All Your Burning Questions After Missing Reunion
Hong Kong court upholds rulings backing subsidized housing benefits for same-sex couples
Rolls-Royce is cutting up to 2,500 jobs in an overhaul of the U.K. jet engine maker
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
How to Achieve Hailey Bieber's Dewy Skin, According to Her Makeup Artist Katie Jane Hughes
Former Brooklyn resident sentenced to life in prison for aiding Islamic State group as sniper
Former Wisconsin Senate clerk resigned amid sexual misconduct investigation, report shows