Toby Keith Comes Under Fire
I love Toby Keith. Not only is he the hawtness, with a great sense of humor to boot, and his voice is to die for, but he’s a huge supporter of our troops and goes out of his way to entertain them. But at a recent show in Afghanistan, it seems the locals didn’t appreciate his vocal stylings:
Keith and his band were in the middle of the song “Weed With Willie” when mortar fire on the base in Kandahar erupted, sending the band and the troops looking for cover.
“We all ran about 100 yards to a concrete bunker,” Curt Motley, the singer’s agent who was with him on the USO tour, told People.
Keith is currently on an 18-show USO tour throughout the Persian Gulf.
The singer and his bandmates stayed inside a bunker with the soldiers for about an hour, reportedly signing autographs and posing for photos to pass the time.
Once they were given the sign it was all clear, the country star returned to the stage, against the advice of military personnel.
“He went right to the verse he was in and finished his show!” Motley told People.
What a class act, to go out there and finish the show for our brave men and women in the Armed Forces. They deserve the best we have (so let’s please not send Jessica Simpson any more).
This is the second post I’ve done this week about a country singer who could show some of these primadonna so-called “stars” a thing or two about professionalism and how to get things done. Do you think Toby had to have a red carpet surrounded by scented candles just to walk to a stage on a military base? Or perhaps he refused to sing for the troops unless he had a certain brand of water, chilled to just the right temperature, and some PLAIN (not peanut, or heads will roll) M&M’s? Or maybe he would have threatened to storm out in a huff if someone couldn’t find wheatgrass juice and he forgot his black nail polish (a possibility that Trace Adkins, another country star, had to deal with concerning the Backstreet Boys on the season finale of The Apprentice, something which still gives me lulz)?
So you can forget the wheatgrass juice and the candles and the fawning sycophants waiting to wipe a star’s behind each time they fart gold. Give me a real star like Toby Keith any day (preferably gift wrapped, but include the hat and boots, please). One Breath Of Fresh Air Award for my man Toby, and put it on my tab. 
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The “stars” get away with such behavior because they’ve been trained to act like “stars” from the very beginning.
The contrast between “stars” and Stars is night and day as you’ve nicely shown everyone.
Toby Keith is just one of many performers who’ve taken their act to the troops and done so without a lot of fanfare. Recently, a group of blues artists went to Iraq and you know, I didn’t hear anything about them needing special water or candles or shit like that. Same with Drew Carey. And a host of others.
Thank God there are folks with their heads on straight. Let the “stars” stay home and bring the real talent to the troops.
Comment by Joanie — April 30, 2008 @ 12:49 pm
You do know the wheatgrass and black nail polish requests were part of the staged “challenge” Trace Adkins was given and done specifically for its humor. The Backstreet Boys’ tour rider is no different than most tour riders including Trace Atkins-ie requests for simple food and drinks. That food and drink is made available for artists who have just arrived after hours of travel and will be virtually stuck at the venue for hours of soundcheck and security reasons. But lets be honest, without the added challenges the Backstreet Boys were told to give, there would have been no drama at all to the show. That was the INTENTION of the shows’ producers! The funniest bit for me was seeing a man with hair down his back in a ponytail complaining about getting fingernail polish for another man-highly ironic and humorish!
Comment by Maris — April 30, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
I am not so naive that I don’t realize the situations and tasks on Celebrity Apprentice were, shall we say, enhanced for maximum viewing pleasure. But if you’ve ever seen some of these so-called “star” riders, you’ll see that the situation, as represented, wasn’t far off the mark. I have talked with people in showbiz who work behind the scenes and trust me, while some riders are very simple, some are a lot worse.
If you don’t believe me, go over to The Smoking Gun and check them out.
I’m not saying stars shouldn’t have food and drinks waiting. But come on…they aren’t walking to their gigs, or taking a wagon train…they fly in on private jets or in first class, or they have a huge tour bus (most of which are worth more than my whole block of houses) that they go everywhere in, they are ferried to the arena in plush limos…don’t act like they are barefoot with a guitar slung across their back, panhandling for loose change and a bottle of water. I’m not saying if they like Pepsi, they should be made to drink Dr Pepper…if they like Pepsi, they should get Pepsi. But if they do for whatever reason get Dr Pepper, then that shouldn’t infuence whether or not they take the stage. And you know what? Sometimes it does.
And all this other superfluous crap, like scented candles and rose petals in the toilet and red carpets and this and that….well, some people just done got above their raisin’.
(oh, and some of us totally got the joke behind Trace buying the nail polish, and it wasn’t because he has a ponytail)
Comment by k — April 30, 2008 @ 2:57 pm