admin2

Country Music

HE DIED ON A MONDAY IN NORMAN, OKLAHOMA. THE CANCER TOOK TWO AND A HALF YEARS TO FINISH WHAT IT STARTED. THEY BURIED HIM AT SUNSET MEMORIAL PARK — AN OKLAHOMA BOY PUT BACK IN OKLAHOMA DIRT. The kid from Clinton. Rodeo hand. Oil field roughneck. Defensive end for a semi-pro football team nobody remembers. When the rigs shut down, he picked up a guitar and drove to Nashville. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” hit number one straight out of the gate. Twenty more followed. Forty million records. Nobody told him what to sing. Nobody told him what to say. And he said plenty. His father — a veteran — died in a car wreck six months before the towers fell. After 9/11, Toby wrote “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” Half the country loved him for it. The other half hated him. He didn’t care about either half. He played USO tours for a decade. Built a house for kids with cancer and called it the OK Kids Korral. Last three shows: Vegas, December. Sold out. He told the crowd the Almighty was riding shotgun and the devil was after him. Then he went home to Oklahoma and let go.

Introduction TOBY KEITH: THE OKLAHOMA COWBOY WHO NEVER BACKED DOWN On a quiet Monday in...

Country Music

CLIVE DAVIS DIDN’T SING “NEON MOON.” BUT WITHOUT THE DOOR HE OPENED, COUNTRY MUSIC MAY NEVER HAVE HEARD IT THE SAME WAY. When Clive Davis helped build Arista Nashville, he was not trying to wear a cowboy hat or pretend he belonged in every honky-tonk room. He did something quieter. He trusted Nashville enough to give it a serious stage. Through that door came two men who had both spent years chasing music alone — Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. Separately, they were talented. Together, under the Arista Nashville banner, they became something country music had never quite seen before. “Brand New Man” arrived in 1991 and changed everything. Then came “My Next Broken Heart,” “Neon Moon,” and “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” Four songs. Four doors kicked open. A duo became a dynasty. Clive Davis may be remembered for pop legends, rock icons, and superstar voices. But in country music, part of his legacy is simple: He helped create the house where Brooks & Dunn became Brooks & Dunn.

Introduction Clive Davis Didn’t Sing “Neon Moon,” But He Helped Create the World It Lived...

You Missed

Country Music

WHEN THE WORLD WAS CHASING FAME, FASTER LIVES, AND BIGGER DREAMS, JOEY + RORY RELEASED A SONG THAT QUIETLY REMINDED EVERYONE THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS CAN NEVER BE MEASURED BY SUCCESS.

Country Music

💔 Just two weeks after a successful open-heart surgery, Rory Feek’s 12-year-old daughter faced another heartbreaking battle for her life.

Country Music

RORY FEEK THOUGHT HE HAD LOST HIS DAUGHTER. HOURS LATER, INDY OPENED HER EYES—AND GAVE HER FATHER THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT OF HIS LIFE. Just two weeks after open-heart surgery, Indiana Feek had finally enjoyed a peaceful week recovering at home in Waco. Then everything changed. She became sick Wednesday night, vomiting and nearly fainting again and again. Early Thursday morning, Indy passed out and would not wake up. Rory later wrote that he and his wife, Rebecca, had never been more frightened. “We thought we had lost her.” Paramedics rushed Indy to a nearby hospital before she was flown to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin. Doctors discovered fluid pressing dangerously around her heart and preventing it from beating properly. They inserted a drain and removed 610 cc of fluid. Almost immediately, her heart rate returned to normal. Then Indy opened her eyes. By that evening, she was awake and ordering her favorite food. The next morning, her color had returned. She was smiling, talking and asking to play game after game of Uno. Only hours earlier, Rory had been praying simply to see his daughter wake up again. Now she was sitting across from him, holding a hand of cards and waiting for the next round. Doctors expect Indy to make a full recovery. Sometimes the greatest answer to a father’s prayer is not something grand. Sometimes it is his little girl opening her eyes—and asking him to deal the cards again.

Country Music

💙 Just when it seemed Indiana Feek was finally on the road to recovery, her family faced another frightening setback.