2026

Country

BEFORE TAYLOR SWIFT BECAME THE BIGGEST STAR IN THE WORLD, SHE WAS A TEENAGER SINGING IN FRONT OF TOBY KEITH. She was not Taylor Swift yet. Not the stadium force. Not the global machine. Not the name that would one day bend the music business around her. She was a teenage songwriter trying to get someone powerful to listen. In 2005, Taylor performed in front of Toby Keith during the early Big Machine moment, when Scott Borchetta was building a label and the doors were still not fully open. In an old interview, young Taylor talked about being around Toby and how his presence filled the room. She sounded excited, but also aware of the size of the man sitting nearby. He had become a force inside country music — successful enough to help shape rooms other artists were trying to enter. He was connected to the early Big Machine structure, and Taylor was one of the young voices standing at the edge of that door. Years later, she became bigger than anyone in that room could have predicted. But before the stadium bracelets, the record-breaking tours, and the industry battles, there was a teenage girl with a guitar singing near Toby Keith — and one of country music’s loudest men quietly standing close to the beginning of her story.

“Scroll down to the end of the article to listen to music.” BEFORE Taylor Swift...

You Missed

Brooks & Dunn

Brooks and Dunn’s Ronnie Dunn Issues Urgent Health Update

The Osmonds

1 MINUTE AGO: Heartbreaking News About Marie Osmond

The Osmonds

The whole world has been watching Marie Osmond’s every move. Now, at age 66, she has finally revealed her secret to love…

Brooks & Dunn

“LONG BEFORE COUNTRY MUSIC FILLED STADIUMS WORLDWIDE, BROOKS & DUNN WERE SHOWING IT COULD.”