On This Day in 1993, Toby Keith Introduced Himself to the Country Music World While Making Fun of His Buddy’s Dance Floor Rejection

On this day (February 12) in 1993, Toby Keith released his debut single. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” Later that year, it topped the country chart for two consecutive weeks, setting the tone for the future of Keith’s career. Lyrically, the song gives nods to Western heroes of yesteryear. However, he was inspired to write it after watching his hunting buddy get rejected by a cowgirl at a Dodge City saloon.

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Keith dropped his first single and made waves in the country music world. His sound and style fit perfectly with the way the genre was moving in the early 1990s. As a result, he quickly became a dominant force on the country airwaves as well as the charts. He notched a total of 20 chart-topping singles in his career. His final No. 1 came in 2011, when “Made in America” reached the top of the country chart and No. 40 on the Hot 100.

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Keith stood out from his contemporaries in more than just his success. He also wrote or co-wrote the majority of his hit songs, including “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”

Toby Keith Reflects on “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”

In 2018, Toby Keith sat down with Billboard to reflect on 25 years of “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” During the conversation, he recalled the barroom interaction that inspired his debut single.

At the time, he and a few others were in Kansas on a hunting trip. After a day in the woods, the group went out to have a few drinks at a local bar. “I think we were actually at the Long Branch Saloon or Miss Kitty’s Saloon–it was something to do with Gunsmoke,” Keith recalled. “This highway patrolman who I had met on the trip, his name was John, he jumps up. He was probably 45 or 50 back then, and he runs over to this 25-year-old cowgirl. He was going to show her that he could still bust a move. She turns him down,” Keith said.

The cowgirl told John that she doesn’t dance. “About 15 minutes later, a young cowboy comes in–and off they go on the dance floor. Everybody was making fun of him, and one of the guys said, ‘John, I guess you should’ve been a cowboy.’”

Keith said it only took him about 20 minutes to write the song after his buddies inadvertently planted the song in his mind.

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