Country's Toby Keith Boycotts CMA Awards, Again
Hit-Making Country Star Says Country Music Association 'Screwed' Him
For the fourth consecutive year, country superstar Toby Keith boycotted the country-music industry’s CMA Awards. In fact, the chart-topping singer said he’ll never attend, or even watch, the popular awards show again.
At 47, Keith has released 12 studio albums (not including four compilations and two Christmas releases), accrued 20 No. 1 songs and at least 18 Top-10 singles, since his commercial recording and radio career officially began in 1993. He’s successfully created his own record label, Show Dog Nashville, and forayed into record producing and acting, including starring in his second major-motion picture, 2008’s Beer for My Horses, which also was a No. 1 country single for six weeks he recorded with Willie Nelson.
Forbes magazine, in May, even named Keith among its top-grossing music stars and his genre's top earner for 2007, with an estimated $48-plus million brought in—even higher than fellow country singer Tim McGraw and top-selling country group Rascal Flatts. But the hit record-making millionaire can’t seem to bring home a CMA in spite of his multi-media success and fan outrage.
Toby Keith: Shunned by CMAs but Embraced by Country Fans & Radio
This year, on Nov. 12, Keith once more avoided the 2008 CMA Awards, claiming he's forever through with the much-revered contest and is organizers.
"I'm done with it, but I tried to keep that quiet. I know everybody is going to say it's sour grapes, but I don't care–it's not," the platinum-selling music artist has said. "I haven't been to a CMA Awards show in four years. They screwed me 'till I finally saw the light."
With his latest CD, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, debuting at No. 1 on the U.S. country album charts—his seventh time to manage that feat—just one week prior to the big CMA show, Keith was content to cut his CMA losses and occupy his time with other things.
"It's completely ridiculous," remarked Keith, who's hasn't landed a CMA since opening his own record label in 2005. And even if the CMA did put him on a future ballot, "They can't fix it for me. Nothing's going to change on my end. That went away a long time ago," he has stated. "I got kicked in the beans a long time ago. I can forgive a lot, but I don't ever forget. ... And they can all kiss my ass, because I am not a player."
Country Singer Says 'Politics' to Blame for CMA Shutout
By Keith's estimation, speaking out about the about the CMAs has essentially ensured he'll always be excluded as a contender. But by doing so, he has said, "I hope that we don't go down in vain, that at least it will help somebody in the future. It doesn't help our industry to have politics in it ... and let our fans go, 'What in the hell?'"
Ah yes, the country fans. According to more than one media circulating, Keith's fans continue to ask the singer-songwriter about his shortage of CMAs, especially with such stellar success.
"The hardest people to answer to (are) the fans," Keith said during one interview. "It just makes you question the integrity of a system. where the person who has the biggest year and is most nominated and has outperformed and been the No. 1 ticket-seller, which I was in that time, to walk out zero for 16."
"You do your own math on that and figure out what you think about that show," Keith told one reporter, referring to the CMA, which has given him 27 nods yet he's taken home just two prizes—the 2001 CMA for male vocalist and the 2005 award for Video of the Year.
Richest Country Star Says He's Not the Only Hit Artist Being Ignored
Keith first decided to boycott the CMAs because of "playing politics" after attending in 2003 and 2004, where he got 13 nominations but left with nary a trophy. And lately, he's noticed that other top-earning country acts also are absent from the short list for the CMA's top prize, the Entertainer of the Year, a title that went to Kenny Chesney for the third consecutive year in 2008.
In the past, though, Keith said he and Chesney have commiserated following the CMAs. Per Keith, an "emotional" Chesney, with "a tear in his eye," once came to Keith's bus upset about his low number of CMA wins when lined up beside his number of nominations.
Reported Keith: "I said, 'Dude, you're preaching to the choir here. You need to go bitch to the people who can fix it. You can't come over here on my bus and expect to get any sympathy from me.' ... I said, 'Just don't support them! Don't let them exploit you!'"
An Award-Filled Conclusion
CMAs aside, Keith has scored a nice collection of other music-related prizes, including 2006 BMI Songwriter of the Year and the 2006 BMI Song of the Year honors; Academy of Country Music trophies for Video of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year and Entertainer of the Year; a slew of Country Music Television Flameworthy Video Music Awards and a 2005 CMT Music Award; as well as the 2004 American Music Award for Favorite Country Male Artist title, to name a sampling.
All things considered, the country superstar and actor confirmed he's quite content where his career now rests.
"I don't want anybody to feel like they owe me anything, because they don't," he recently said. "I've had the best career, and I wouldn't change places with nobody. ..."
Sources
Finan, Ellen. Toby Keith: Country Music Association ‘screwed me,’ Nov. 11, 2008. Accessed Nov. 16, 2008, at www.people.com.
Mansfield, Brian. A conversation with Toby Keith: Day 4, Oct. 30, 2008. Accessed Nov. 17, 2008. at www.theboot.com.
Toby Keith giving up on CMA awards, posted June 27, 2007. Accessed Nov. 17, 2008. at www.gactv.com.
Toby Keith, Wikipedia entry. Accessed Nov. 17, 2008/
Toby Keith performs for U.S. troops in Iraq.
|
Toby Kieth at Camp Victory in Iraq.
|
Toby Keith with his first CMA.
|
Toby Keith's Big Dog Daddy release.
|
That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy by Toby Keith
|
What do you think about this article?
Comments
Latest Articles