Beyond just being an entertainer and a songwriter, Toby Keith was a father and family man. The singer was married for nearly 40 years and had three kids as well as four grandchildren.
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Speaking with People, Keith discussed how proud he was of his family.
“Everybody in the family is good,” he said. “I was raised by good parents and I have great kids. They don’t have any issues at all — none. They all grew up with me being successful, but they are not hooked on that part of the business.”
Keith is father to his adopted daughter Shelley Covel Rowland, who was born in 1980. Keith officially adopted and raised Shelley after marrying her mother Tricia. For the most part, Shelley has kept a private lifestyle, staying out of the spotlight. She occasionally made public appearances to support her parents. Shelley is a mother of two.
Toby Keith as a Father
Krystal is Keith’s second child, born in 1985. Like her father, she pursued a music career, singing “Mockingbird” on Keith’s Greatest Hits 2 album in 2004. Krystal opened up to Children of Song podcast about Keith as a father.
“I think it speaks volumes that the way I kind of remember childhood is I don’t really remember him being gone. When he was home, he was so present that I don’t remember the spans of him being gone,” she said. “He’s a lot more normal than people expect him to be. He’s exactly what you get of him in interviews and things like that.”
Keith tried to persuade Krystal not to pursue a career in music. However, he relented when she agreed to get a degree from the University of Oklahoma first. She later released an album Whiskey & Lace in 2013. She also wrote “Daddy Dance with Me” about her father. Krystal also has two children.
“He didn’t want the industry to beat me up on being young and inexperienced. His example was LeAnn Rimes. When she came out, she was so young and had this big, huge voice that was amazing… but then as she grew up, people still saw her as a kid.” She said he insisted that she complete a college degree before diving into music so she wouldn’t experience the same pressures as Rimes or Taylor Swift.
“He was really adamant about the education,” Krystal said. “He always said, ‘I earned all of this money and my kids have every opportunity to go to college.’
Finally, Stelen Keith Covel is the singer’s third child, born in 1997. He became an investor in venture management and has mostly stayed out of the spotlight.
[Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for iHeartMedia]
