Throughout his career, Toby Keith earned a reputation for being very patriotic and pro-military. In 2001, the “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” singer released his controversial track “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)” in response to the tragic events of 9/11. In an interview with USA Today, Keith claimed to have captured what the American public’s feelings after the attacks, stating, “It was the way everybody felt when they saw those two buildings fall.” While the country star stood confidently behind his track, its brash lyrics received major backlash from music critics and some of his peers, including Natalie Maines, the lead vocalist of The Chicks. “I hate it. It’s ignorant, and it makes country music sound ignorant,” she told The Los Angeles Daily News at the time, according to Daily Press.
“It targets an entire culture — and not just the bad people who did bad things. You’ve got to have some tack.” It didn’t take long for Keith to fire back at Maines in an interview with CMT, where he claimed her opinion didn’t matter because she wasn’t a songwriter. “I’m a songwriter. She’s not. She can say my song is ignorant, but then it’s ignorant for her to say that because she’s not a songwriter.” Keith and Maines’ respective interviews were just the beginning of their feud.
