This is how America’s birthday should always go.
Big Dog Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” was the #1 most-streamed song on Spotify in the U.S. on America’s 250th birthday. This man would’ve been happy to know this too.
Toby participated in nearly 20 USO tours throughout his career, performing for over a quarter of a million service members in 17 different countries as they fought overseas. He loved playing them and of course one of the most popular songs on those tours was “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).”
The song was a patriotic rallying cry in the wake of the tragic 9/11 terrorist attacks that went on to become one of Toby’s signature songs…and a staple of 4th of July playlists.
The thing is…we were never supposed to hear it though.
Toby originally wrote the song to only perform for troops on his USO tours and he never intended to actually record the song. Then after growing frustration with the media coverage in the wake of the terrorist attacks…and when he performed the song for the troops, they obviously went nuts.
The then-Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones told Toby that he didn’t have a choice, calling it “the most amazing battle song I’ve ever heard in my life.”
And he proceeded to tell Toby that “it’s your job as an entertainer to lift the morale of the troops. If you want to serve, that is what you can do.”
I mean with a statement like that from your military, Toby did his part. He took “The Angry American” into the studio, and released it as the lead single from his album, “Unleashed”, in 2002. The song went to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and has since been certified 4x platinum.
The song was followed by Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” at #2 and “Choosin’ Texas” by Ella Langley in third of Spotify this past weekend too. As a proud American…this news fills my heart.