Toby Keith

Toby Keith Covel was born July 8, 1961, he was the second child of Joan and Hubert Keith Covel. He was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, and grew up with sister Tonnie and his youngest sibling, Brother Tracy, in Moore, Oklahoma. After graduating from High School, Toby did not go on to college. Instead went to work in the Oklahoman oil fields with his father to help support the family. He later met and married Tricia Lucus, whose child, Shelley Reeve, he adopted. He later had two children with Tricia - Krystal, born in 1985, and Stelen, born in 1997 and is the only son of Toby and Tricia. Krystal was born and the Oklahoma oil industry had collapsed, leaving Toby, Tricia and their two daughters in financial troubles. Touring with his band, The Easy Money Band, got them out of financial debt. After signing a deal at Mercury Records, his debut album "Toby Keith", which contained his first #1, single "Should've been a Cowboy", finally established him as a professional singer and songwriter. He later left Mercury for a period of three years, coming back in 1997, the year in which his final studio album for Mercury, "Dream Walkin'", was released. A year after his first Greatest Hits compilation came out from Mercury, he and his producer, James Stroud, left the label and Toby signed a deal with DreamWorks Records, headed by his producer. Since releasing his fifth album, "How Do You Like Me Now?!", and its title track written by both Toby and Chuck Cannon, the DreamWorks-affiliated singer and BMI-affiliated songwriter has seen success like never before. That success can be measured with five more studio albums since "How Do You Like Me Now?", more #1 singles, Academy of Country Music Awards and other kinds of awards, another Greatest Hits contemplation (including songs from albums "How Do You Like Me Now?", "Pull My Chain", and "Unleashed", and a duet with his daughter.

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