Music

Toby Keith Added to Songwriters Hall of Fame

He'll Be Inducted Alongside Bobby Braddock, Cyndi Lauper and More
by 2/18/2015

If the words “How Do You Like Me Now?!” didn’t hold meaning before, they certainly do now, as Toby Keith has been named among 2015’s inductees to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The announcement came Wednesday (Feb. 18) that Keith will join the ranks of musical pioneers and hitmakers honored by the prestigious group. Also among this year’s inductees are Country Music Hall of Famer Bobby Braddock, pop star Cyndi Lauper, the Grateful Dead’s singer Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, blues icon Willie Dixon and pop/rock songwriter Linda Perry.

“Our 2015 lineup of inductees represents the rich diversity of American musical styles – Rock, Country, Blues and Pop – that have captivated the world over the past six decades,” said Songwriters Hall of Fame president & CEO Linda Moran. “Each one of these brilliant music creators have written instantly recognizable classics, songs that are both of their time and timeless.”

Keith has written many of his biggest hits including “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “Who’s Your Daddy,” “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American),” “Beer for My Horses,” “I Love This Bar” and “As Good as I Once Was.” His albums have sold more than 40 million copies, and his tours have drawn more than one million fans each year for the last 14 years.

Braddock has penned such hits as the George Jones and Tammy Wynette duet “Golden Ring,” Tracy Lawrence’s “Time Marches On” and Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy.” Also among his 13 No. 1 hits is a song recorded by Keith, the 2001 single “I Wanna Talk About Me.” However, Braddock may be most well-known for co-penning the Jones megahit “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” a song that won the CMA song of the year two years in a row (1980 and 1981).

Honorees will be inducted June 18 in a ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.