Growing up on his family farm in the 1990s, Trait Thompson spent a lot of 12-hour days on a tractor listening to the radio.
“Those songs are burned into my head. That’s why, when a Toby Keith song from that era comes on, most of the time, within a few bars, I can catch it, and I can sing the rest of the song. He’s just in there as a part of my formative years,” said Thompson, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
“I think that’s a great thing about being an artist is, when you pass away, you have left a legacy. You’ve left something behind.”
Since Keith, 62, died Feb. 5 after a multiyear battle with stomach cancer, millions of his fans have been remembering him by streaming and buying his music, propelling several of the Oklahoma hitmaker’s songs and releases back to the top of the charts.
“It must be incredibly comforting to know that people are going to be hearing your voice and seeing your image for years and years and years to come — and will still be deriving joy from it. I hope that is a very gratifying thought to our artists … that people still enjoy something they created after they’re gone,” Thompson said.
Keith was memorialized privately by close family and friends last week in Oklahoma, according to a news release. Plans for a public memorial in honor of the the late superstar will be forthcoming.
Here’s a look at how Keith’s music has reemerged atop the charts in the days since his death:
Toby Keith posthumously achieves his biggest week on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart
Keith posthumously achieved the best week of his career on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart during the week dated Feb. 17, according to Forbes. The Norman resident’s songs took eight of the 25 spots on the all-genre ranking, Taste of Country reported.
“Don’t Let The Old Man In” claimed a new high spot on the list, coming in at No. 2 after selling nearly 27,000 copies,
Keith’s 2018 ode, which he wrote for iconic filmmaker Clint Eastwood, was kept out of the No. 1 spot by Tracy Chapman’s 1988 hit “Fast Car,” which topped Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart for the first time following Chapman and country star Luke Combs’ dazzling duet of her signature song on the Feb. 4 Grammy Awards.
Born in Clinton, raised in Moore and based in Norman, Keith had three other songs ascend to new high spots on the Billboard Digital Songs Sales chart, Forbes reported. “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” came in at No. 8, “As Good As I Once Was” ranked No. 13, and “American Soldier” was listed at No. 23.
Keith’s breakout 1993 debut single “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” ranked at No. 7 on the all-genre digital song sales chart, while “How Do You Like Me Now?!” reached No. 12. His Willie Nelson duet “Beer for My Horses” came in at No. 18, with “I Love This Bar” following at No. 19.
The late superstar makes history on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart
That’s not the Billboard only chart history Keith has been making posthumously: He became the first recording artist to seize nine spots in the top 10 of the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart dated Feb. 17.
Keith surpassed the seven top 10 hits on the chart achieved by Kenny Rogers on April 4, 2020, following his death, and Taylor Swift, on Nov. 13, 2010, with the bow of her album “Speak Now,” according to Billboard.
“Don’t Let the Old Man In” returned to No. 1 on the Country Digital Song Sales list. The meaningful ballad’s first appearance atop the Country Digital Song Sales chart, which launched in 2010, came last October, after Keith’s emotional Sept. 28, 2023, performance at the People’s Choice Country Awards.
“Don’t Let the Old Man In” was Keith’s second hit to top the Billboard Digital Song Sales survey, after his “Red Solo Cup” dominated for 14 frames starting in November 2011. “Red Solo Cup” was back on the list at No. 10 after the performer’s death.
Apart from Combs’ smash cover of “Fast Car” at No. 2, Keith owned every spot on the top 10 of the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales chart from the week after his death:
- No. 1, “Don’t Let the Old Man In”
- No. 3, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”
- No. 4, “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)”
- No. 5, “How Do You Like Me Now?!”
- No. 6, “As Good as I Once Was”
- No. 7, “Beer for My Horses,” with Willie Nelson
- No. 8, “I Love This Bar”
- No. 9, “American Soldier”
- No. 10, “Red Solo Cup”
Three more Keith songs made the top 15 on the Country Digital Songs Sales chart, with “I Wanna Talk About Me” at No. 12, “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This” at No. 13 and “Wish I Didn’t Know Now” at No. 15.
Keith’s songs also peppered Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart, and he was No. 1 on the Top Country Songwriters chart for the week.
Toby Keith’s 35 Biggest Hits tops Billboard 200 albums chart
Keith’s 2008 compilation album “35 Biggest Hits” also topped the Billboard 200 albums chart dated Feb. 12.
It became the Oklahoman’s fifth No. 1 on the all-genre albums chart and his first since 2010’s “Bullets in the Gun.” Keith previously topped the Billboard 200 with 2007’s “Big Dog Daddy,” 2003’s “Shock’N Y’all” and 2002’s “Unleashed.”
The milestone put Keith in rarified company along with the likes of Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Elvis Presley who have topped the all-genre album chart while active as well as posthumously, according to Forbes.
When “35 Biggest Hits” was originally released in 2008, it peaked at its debut rank of No. 2. The collection includes 31 of Keith’s 42 top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, including 15 of his 20 chart-toppers.
According to Billboard, “35 Biggest Hits” is the first posthumous No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Pop Smoke’s “Faith” debuted at No. 1 on the July 31, 2021, chart, following his Feb. 19, 2020, death.
Before Keith’s 2008 compilation, the last retrospective album to reach No. 1 posthumously was Prince’s “The Very Best of Prince,” which topped the Billboard 200 dated May 7, 2016, after his death on April 21, 2016.
The hits collection topped Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart, too.
Fan interest in Keith’s music has carried over into the current week, with “35 Biggest Hits” at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums list. Nine of the top 15 tracks on the Country Digital Songs Sales are Keith’s, too, led by “Don’t Let The Old Man In” at No. 3.
As Keith optimistically vowed in 2023 to resume touring, the country music superstar finished the year with a flurry of milestones that preceded his posthumous achievements.
The Recording Industry Association of America issued about 20 new gold and platinum certifications for his songs last year, ranging from Keith’s first single “Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” which was certified triple platinum, to “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American),” which was deemed quadruple platinum.
The trade publication Country Aircheck last year compiled the Top 100 most played songs from the past 50 years, with Keith notching eight hits on the list.
Plus, Pandora surprised Keith backstage during the superstar’s sold-out three-show Las Vegas concert run in December with a Triple Billionaire Plaque to commemorate his catalog earning 3 billion streams on the platform.
