On Monday night, the great and mighty Toby Keith passed away. He died too young at 62, leaving behind his wife of almost 40 years, Tricia, and three adult children. The iconic country star had been fighting stomach cancer for a couple of years, a grueling, painful battle that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.
Keith had been a massive star since the early '90s, releasing sweet love songs like "Huckleberry" and "Who's That Man," patriotic barn-burners in the wake of Sept. 11 like "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," hilarious sing-alongs like "I Ain't As Good As I Once Was" and "Red Solo Cup," and country classics like "I Love This Bar." Behind the scenes, he was also a massively influential businessman and producer. And, oh yeah — he discovered and launched an unknown 15-year-old country star wannabe named Taylor Swift.
"Keith was a major figure in Swift’s early years," notes Time. "He helped found the 'Cruel Summer' singer’s first record label, Big Machine, along with Scott Borchetta, but left six months later to focus on his own label, Show Dog Nashville."
Related: RIP: Toby Keith Was the Country Singer Everyone Wanted to Party With
A WSMV News 4 Nashville 2005 segment on the then-rising teen star revealed the close connection the two once had. "She came to Nashville last year, writing her own songs, singing them, and hoping someone would like them," reported correspondent Terry Bulger. "Toby Keith did. So much so that he just signed her to his new record label. That makes them partners."
Watch young Tay-Tay gush over Keith back when he was helping her climb:
"I don't think I'll ever get to a point where I won't see him and be like, 'Oh my God, that's Toby Keith,'" said Swift at the time. But now it appears as though she has arrived there after all. The second day since the great Toby Keith's passing has dawned, and still no word from Swiftland.
Others in the music business have begun to take notice — and offense — at the superstar's silence.
When is @taylorswift13 going to share some words about Toby Keith? The man who discovered her, got her the 1st record deal? Taylor, where are you today? #TobyKeith https://t.co/6mz88PD5gK
— John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) February 6, 2024
What could have caused Swift's cold silence on the country legend's death? Some say it is residual hard feelings from her loss of control over her early catalog. "Swift … had a well publicized falling out with the record label Keith helped found after its other co-founder, Scott Borchetta, sold the label to Scooter Braun, transferring the ownership of her first six albums to Braun," recounts Time.
Or perhaps Swift's tiresome left-wing politics have robbed her of her humanity, as they have so many others. Time mentions the possibility of political bad blood between the two:
The two country music singers had very different political views, with Keith being most well known for his post-9/11 song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” The song was often used to express support for the war in Iraq.
Swift, on the other hand, has publicly expressed support for multiple Democratic candidate and denounced Donald Trump.
Keith was also known for his vocal denunciation of The Chicks (previously known as the Dixie Chicks) after one of their singers, Natalie Maines, told a crowd she was ashamed of then president George W. Bush for his actions regarding the war in Iraq.
Keith responded by photoshopping a picture of Maines next to Saddam Hussein, and performing with that photo as a backdrop during his concerts.
While she didn’t call out Keith specifically, Swift has cited the backlash to Maines as a pivotal moment in her political consciousness in her 2020 Netflix documentary, Miss Americana.
“Throughout my whole career, label executives and publishers would say, ‘don’t be like the Dixie Chicks,’” Swift said.
When Toby passed, Taylor was still on a high from preening and lording over the 2024 GRAMMYs Sunday evening. That was also the last time she posted on her official X account, as she began hawking her new album. Apparently, that is more important than acknowledging the death of someone so well-loved and so pivotal to her own career.
Poor form, Taylor.
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