Toby Keith Performs ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Toby Keith, who marks 18 years in country music in 2011, appeared on tonight’s results episode of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ to lay down two songs — just a small sampling of the work that has made him one of the industry’s biggest names.

First, Keith rocked his 1993 game-changer, ‘Should’ve Been a Cowboy,’ which was one of the most played country songs of the ’9os. The Oklahoma native appeared casual in his signature hat and an unbuttoned button-up shirt, while the ‘DWTS’ dancers spun across the floor in their cowboy boots.

Toward the end of the show, Mr. Keith was given a warm welcome as he waltzed back onto the stage to give viewers a hit from 10 years later, ‘American Soldier,’ from his ‘Shock’n Y’all’ album. Two of the remaining dancers floated across the dance floor as Keith spit out the powerful 2003 song, which sat pretty at No. 1 on the Billboard U.S. Hot Country Songs chart for an entire month. It wasn’t until the end of his performance, when the cameras pulled back, that we were shown that the audience members on both sides of the stage were soldiers in the U.S. military.