A Dallas bar, a Willie Nelson collab and The Chicks feud: Toby Keith's ties to Texas

Country music star Toby Keith died Monday night while surrounded by loved ones. The "Should've Been a Cowboy" singer, 62, had been battling stomach cancer since fall 2021.

"Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on February 5th, surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time." a Twitter post on his account reads.

An Oklahoma native, Keith's memory will continue living on throughout the United States — including in Texas.

Also read: 1993: Toby Keith performs Dallas Cowboys version of 'Should've Been a Cowboy' on MNF

Here are three ways the "Red Solo Cup" star has impacted Texas:

'I Love This Bar': Toby Keith-inspired bar

After Keith's 2003 song "I Love This Bar" held the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, Boomtown Entertainment decided to take advantage of its popularity. The company opened a chain of restaurants called "Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill."

In 2012, the chain came to Dallas, Texas. The restaurant offered southern-style food and live music. With proof of government ID, military members could get a free "American Soldier Burger," as stated in the Nashville Music Guide.

Beginning in Nashville, the chain opened 20 locations across the U.S., according to WBSM. At its height, there were Toby Keith bars in Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and more.

However, most of the Toby Keith bars had closed by 2015. Lawsuits accused Boomtown of taking large sums of money from mall owners and developers to build new locations then leaving the projects unfinished. The legal proceedings cost the company nearly $30 million and forced them to close almost all locations.

The Dallas location remained open until the COVID-19 pandemic prompted it to close its doors. It has not reopened since.

Today, only two of the Toby Keith-themed bars appear to remain open, both in Keith's home state of Oklahoma.

Willie Nelson collaboration

In 2003, Keith collaborated with Willie Nelson, a fellow country music singer from Abbott, Texas. Together they released "Beer for My Horses," which sat atop Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart for a staggering six weeks.

Keith and Nelson, along with Aerosmith, played at Super Bowl XXXVIII's pre-game show in Houston, Country Music Television reports.

More on Willie Nelson: He gives the world hope: Willie Nelson inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

The Chicks Feud

Keith's 2002 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" sparked controversy. Written shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and his veteran father's death, he made his beliefs about how the military should respond crystal clear.

"And you'll be sorry that you messed with / The U.S. of A. / 'Cause we'll put a boot in your a** / It's the American way," Keith sang.

Keith's song prompted an array of reactions. One came from The Chicks — formerly known as The Dixie Chicks — from Dallas, Texas. Lead singer Natalie Maines criticized Keith's song and his support of the Iraq War and President George W. Bush.

"Don't get me started," Maines told the Los Angeles Daily News. "I hate it. It's ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant. It targets an entire culture — and not just the bad people who did bad things. You've got to have some tact. Anybody can write, 'We'll put a boot in your ass.' But a lot of people agree with it. The kinds of songs I prefer on the subject are like Bruce Springsteen's new songs."

During concerts, Keith began putting a fake photo of Maines next to a picture of then-Iraqi prime minister Saddam Hussein, implying similarities between the two, American Songwriter reports.

According to Wide Open Country, Maines wore a shirt with "F.U.T.K." onstage at the 2003 Academy of Country Music Awards. The Chicks claimed the acronym stood for "Friends United Together in Kindness" or "Freedom, Understanding, Truth and Knowledge." Later in their documentary "Shut Up & Sing," Maines confirmed the letters actually meant "F*** U Toby Keith."

More: Dixie Chicks founding member Laura Lynch dies in head-on car crash near El Paso

On a cover of Entertainment Weekly, the three Chicks posed nude with paint spelling out "big mouth," "traitors" and more.

Keith unexpectedly ended the feud after rumors that one of his band members lost their toddler to cancer.

“A few days after I found she didn’t have long to live,” he told Contact Music in 2003, “I saw a picture on the cover of Country Weekly with a picture of me and Natalie and it said, ‘Fight to the Death’ or something. It seemed so insignificant. I said, ‘Enough is enough.'”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Remembering Toby Keith: 3 ways the country music star influenced Texas