Toby Keith is the stage name of Toby Keith Covel. He was born on July 8, 1961 in Clinton, Oklahoma. Toby Keith graduated from Moore High School and, in 1979, went to work as a derrick hand in the booming oil fields of Oklahoma. He worked his way up to become an operation manager. At the age of 20, he formed the Easy Money band where he and his friends Scott Webb and Danny Smith and few other members played at local bars as he continued to work in the oil industry. At times, he would have to leave in the middle of a concert if he was paged to work in the oil field. In 1982, the oil industry in Oklahoma began a rapid decline and Keith soon found himself unemployed. He then returned to focus once again on music. In 1984, Easy Money began playing the honky tonk circuit in Oklahoma and Texas. The band cut a single titled Blue Moon and the song received some airplay on local radio stations in Oklahoma. Toby Keith released his self titled debut album through Polygram Records in 1993. The album has sold more than one million copies in the United States. Toby Keith has since released nine more studio albums. He has also charted more than forty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including eighteen Number One hits and seventeen additional Top Ten hits.
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