4 Country Artists Who Had Successful Careers Outside of Music First

Some country artists, like Dolly Parton and Tanya Tucker, never had another job before launching their country music careers. But then there are some who had an entirely different career path before switching to country music, including these four artists.

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Toby Keith

Toby Keith began working in the oil fields in Oklahoma as soon as he graduated from high school. He may have stayed in the oil fields, if not for the decline of the industry when he was in his early 20s. By that time, Keith had already started his Easy Money Band, but he still didn’t make the switch at first.  A strapping 6’3”, Keith also tried to become a professional football player.

Fortunately for country music, it didn’t work. In 1993, Keith released his eponymous debut album. The record includes “Should’ve Been A Cowboy“, Keith’s first No. 1 hit.

Trace Adkins

Like Keith, Trace Adkins also worked in the oil fields, although that wasn’t his first career choice. After high school, Adkins attended  Louisiana Tech , where he studied petroleum engineering and music. Adkins didn’t graduate, instead choosing to work on an oil rig. He also worked a pharmacy tech. 

Adkins was playing music on the side. He may not have ever become a superstar, if not for a chance meeting with record label executive Scott Hendricks in baggage claim at Nashville’s airport.

“He was like, ‘Can you sing?’” Adkins recalls to NPR. “And I was like, “A little bit.”

Cody Johnson

Cody Johnson had not one but two different careers prior to his start in country music. He was a professional bull rider in the rodeo, and he also worked as a prison guard. Ironically, it was his boss in the prisons, the prison warden, who convinced him to pursue music full-time.

“The warden that I was working for actually encouraged me to go quit,” Johnson tells Bud Light Texas. “They said, ‘You know, you can always come back. There’s never going to be a shortage of people going to prison, there’s never going to be a shortage of the need for people to guard them, so go chase your dream.’”

Reba McEntire

McEntire also worked in the rodeo, which is the job that ultimately led to her being one of the biggest country artists of all time. McEntire was famously discovered by singer Red Steagall while singing the national anthem at a rodeo. But McEntire, who was part of The Singing McEntires as a child with her siblings, didn’t think country music would sustain her as a career. Instead, she attended college, graduating with a degree in education. Thankfully for McEntire, although not for students in her native Oklahoma, she opted to pursue country music instead.

McEntire’s country music career didn’t start off as promising as she had hoped.  It took her six years, and more than a dozen singles, before she had her first No. 1 hit, with “Can’t Even Get The Blues”.

Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for BMI