Toby Keith Inducted Into Country Music Hall of Fame

Toby Keith, who passed away on February 5th, was announced as one of the newest inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame today, along with fellow country stars, John Anderson, and James Burton. 

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Brooks and Dunn made the announcement for this year’s inductees at a press conference held at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  Toby Keith (Covel) will be inducted under the Modern Era Artist category while Anderson will go under the Veterans Era Category and Burton will be inducted under the Recording and/or Touring Musician category.   

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Keith’s induction was obviously posthumous but the voting on the ballot was held before Keith’s passing.  The nominations for this year’s class were made in the fall of 2023 with the first ballots being sent to the voters before the holidays.  The final ballots were cast on February 2nd with the results coming just a few days later.  They anticipated letting the nominees know of their induction on February 6th.  That morning the country music world received the heart-breaking news of Keith’s passing with news coming just a few hours later of Keith’s induction in the Hall of Fame.  Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern commented at the press conference, “My heart sank that Tuesday afternoon knowing that we had missed the chance to inform Toby while he was still with us, but I have no doubt that he is smiling down on us knowing that he will always be “as good as he once was.”

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Keith was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2021 and died February 5th, 2024, at the age of 62.  Ronnie Dunn said of Keith, “The man who once sang that he dreamed about living in your radio has found a permanent home in the Hall of Fame rotunda.”