5 Things You Should Know About Toby Keith

There is more to the man who has sold over 40 million albums than meets the eye. Check out these five facts that you may not know ...

1. Every year, the dad of three holds an annual Golf Classic to benefit OK Kids Korrall.
2. Forbes Magazine called him the "most vertically integrated performer in the music business–and a one-man cash machine."
3. In the beginning, record labels continually told Toby "thank, but no thanks." At one point, he was even told that his songs needed to go "back to the woodshed." A stewardess changed all of that. The Toby Keith fan managed to get one of his demo CDs into the hands of Harold Shedd, the head of Mercury Records, during a flight to Nashville. Once Shedd heard the music, he was sold and Keith was signed.
4. Before he became a country super-star, Toby played defensive end for a semi-pro football team called the Oklahoma Drillers. His love of the game has turned him into one of the Oklahoma Sooners' biggest fans. His private plane is painted crimson and cream, so he takes a little Sooner love with him everywhere he flies,
5. After high school, Keith was employed as a derrick hand in the oil fields. He worked his way up the chain to become an operation manager but in 1982, when the industry started going downhill, he lost his job (which led to his football career).