Toby Keith's Greatest Hits: The Show Dog Years Turns Five

Iconic singer, songwriter and entertainer Toby Keith's career looks like an inevitability in hindsight, but he struggled through artificial, industry-created barriers almost every step of the way. Nevertheless, he built a catalog of mostly self-penned hits and elevated himself to superstar status by the early 2000s ... until something unlikely and historic happened. Keith demanded a release from his label to form his own and – to the shock of all doubters – his inferno of a career got even hotter.

Armed with full creative control, Toby Keith enjoyed an unprecedented era of completely self-directed success, celebrated on his Greatest Hits: The Show Dog Years, which marks the fifth anniversary of its release Oct. 25. Available in Dolby Atmos immersive sound on all music services for the first time, the collection encompasses Keith's work for his own Show Dog Nashville label – which was capped with the inclusion of "Don't Let The Old Man In." Written solely by Keith after a conversation with Clint Eastwood, the song was available only on the 2018 soundtrack for Eastwood's The Muleprior to the release of GH:TSDY. The song is considered by many to be the capstone of a career that put Keith in the New York based all-genre Songwriters Hall of Fame.

That career was celebrated last month on the viewed-by-millions NBC special Toby Keith: American Icon, which is still available on-demand via Peacock. The network's most-watched special of the year, it was filmed in a sold-out Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and featured performances and personal remembrances from many of country music's biggest names. Perhaps "the night's most affecting performance" (Country Now) came from Krystal Keith, Toby's daughter and fellow Show Dog recording artist, with "Don't Let The Old Man In." People noted that Krystal "soars through the [song's] poignant life lessons." All of Toby's catalog saw a nearly 150% increase following the special, and that track saw one of the biggest bumps.

Other Toby Keith news:

• The newly compiled 13 Number Ones and remastered and expanded Christmas to Christmas will be available October 4 from Universal Music. The former will be released on CD and vinyl and focuses on a baker's dozen of concert setlist staples recorded between 1993 and 2005. The latter  – originally released in 1995 – is being reissued on CD, DSPs and, for the first time, vinyl.

• Keith is being honored with singalongs conducted between the third and fourth quarters during OU Sooners home football games throughout the 2024 season. At the Aug. 30 season opening game vs. Temple, Krystal Keith helped kick off "Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American)." Watch here. The mutual love and loyalty between Keith and the University of Oklahoma was exemplified when the university conferred upon him an honorary degree  – recognition he was proud to learn about prior to his passing in February.

• New merch continues to be rolled out on Keith's website, most recently the Toby Keith: American Icon tee ... available here.