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Toby Keith’s *35 Biggest Hits* came within one place of topping the Billboard 200 in 2008. Nearly sixteen years later, fans returned to it in mourning and sent it to No. 1. Toby died on February 5, 2024, aged sixty-two. Over the following days, listeners revisited decades of his music, including “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and “I Love This Bar.” On the chart dated February 17, the collection reentered at the top with 66,000 equivalent album units. Its thirty-five tracks generated more than 64 million streams during the tracking week. The result gave Toby his fifth Billboard 200 No. 1 and his first since 2010. At its original release, the album had peaked at No. 2. This time, songs long familiar from radios, bars, and concert stages became a way for listeners to remember him—and carried the same collection one position higher.

When Toby Keith released 35 Biggest Hits on May 6, 2008, the album brought together some of the most recognizable songs in  country music. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, an impressive achievement for a greatest-hits collection.

But it never reached the top of that chart while Toby Keith was alive.

Nearly 16 years later, something remarkable happened. Following Toby Keith’s death on February 5, 2024, at age 62, millions of listeners returned to the  music that had accompanied their lives for decades.On the Billboard 200 chart dated February 17, 2024, 35 Biggest Hits reentered at No. 1 for the first time.

It was a chart milestone that Toby Keith never had the opportunity to witness. And behind that achievement was an extraordinary response from the people who had followed his music for more than 30 years.

An Album That Told the Story of a Country Music Career

Released as a two-CD collection, 35 Biggest Hits included 34 previously recorded songs spanning Toby Keith’s career from 1993 through 2006, along with a new recording, “She’s a Hottie.”

The collection began with “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” the 1993 single that introduced Toby Keith to country radio and became his first No. 1 country hit.

From there, the album moved through songs that had helped establish Toby Keith as one of the genre’s most successful and distinctive performers.

“How Do You Like Me Now?!” captured the defiant confidence that became a signature of Toby Keith’s music. “I Love This Bar” celebrated ordinary places and familiar faces. “American Soldier” reflected a more serious side, while “As Good as I Once Was” showed Toby Keith’s gift for humor and storytelling.

By 2008, these recordings were already familiar to generations of country fans.

The compilation reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart that year. But on the all-genre Billboard 200, which measures albums across every musical style, it stopped at No. 2.For years, that remained its highest position.

What Happened in February 2024?

After Toby Keith’s death, the response to his music was reflected in extraordinary listening figures.

During the tracking week ending February 8, 2024, 35 Biggest Hits earned 66,000 equivalent album units, an increase of 953 percent over the previous week.

According to Billboard, approximately 46,000 of those units came from streaming activity, representing 64.04 million official on-demand streams of the album’s 35 songs.

Another 11,000 units came from actual album sales, with the remaining 9,000 generated through individual track sales.

That distinction matters. The album did not sell 66,000 physical copies in a week. Its No. 1 position reflected the combined impact of purchases and digital listening.

And the renewed interest went beyond one album.

Toby Keith also occupied nine of the top ten positions on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart, a striking demonstration of how many listeners were returning to his individual recordings.

For some, those songs recalled the country radio of the 1990s. Others remembered the early 2000s, when Toby Keith’s music was a constant presence on radio, television and concert stages.

A Fifth No. 1 That Arrived Too Late

The achievement gave Toby Keith a fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 and his first since Bullets in the Gun topped the chart in 2010.

Other albums that had reached the summit included Unleashed, Shock’n Y’all and Big Dog Daddy.

But 35 Biggest Hits was different. It wasn’t a new studio recording or a collection of previously unheard performances. These were songs the public had known for years.

Its return demonstrated that familiar music can find renewed significance when listeners revisit an artist’s life and career.

And the story did not end in 2024. On May 22, 2026, the collection received its first vinyl release as a three-LP set, introducing another format through which fans could experience Toby Keith’s recordings.

The Meaning Behind Those 16 Years

When 35 Biggest Hits first appeared in 2008, Toby Keith was still releasing new music, touring and adding to an already substantial catalog.

Sixteen years later, the same collection reached No. 1 under entirely different circumstances.

The songs themselves had not changed. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” was still the recording that helped launch his career. “I Love This Bar” still carried its familiar humor. “American Soldier” still expressed the sentiments that had made it meaningful to many listeners.

What changed was the moment in which people heard them.

In 2008, 35 Biggest Hits celebrated what Toby Keith had accomplished. In 2024, its rise to No. 1 showed how strongly that  music continued to connect with listeners after his death.

It took nearly 16 years for the album to reach the top of the Billboard 200. The songs that carried it there had been part of people’s lives all along.

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Country

Toby Keith’s *35 Biggest Hits* came within one place of topping the Billboard 200 in 2008. Nearly sixteen years later, fans returned to it in mourning and sent it to No. 1. Toby died on February 5, 2024, aged sixty-two. Over the following days, listeners revisited decades of his music, including “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and “I Love This Bar.” On the chart dated February 17, the collection reentered at the top with 66,000 equivalent album units. Its thirty-five tracks generated more than 64 million streams during the tracking week. The result gave Toby his fifth Billboard 200 No. 1 and his first since 2010. At its original release, the album had peaked at No. 2. This time, songs long familiar from radios, bars, and concert stages became a way for listeners to remember him—and carried the same collection one position higher.

Country

Hank Williams Jr.’s career was reaching new heights when his marriage to Becky White ended in 1983. Their daughters, Hilary and Holly, were only four and two. Becky had married him in June 1977, while he was still recovering from the devastating mountain fall he suffered in Montana two years earlier. As he rebuilt his health and career, they began a family. Hilary was born in 1979, followed by Holly in 1981. During those same years, Hank established a musical identity distinct from his father’s. *Family Tradition* and *Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound* helped make his unruly, outspoken style a major commercial force. In 1982, he had nine albums on Billboard’s country chart simultaneously. Concert crowds embraced the performer he had become. At home, that success brought a demanding touring schedule, long absences, and the strain of heavy drinking. Becky was caring for two small children while Hank’s work repeatedly took him away. The energy that drew audiences to his shows could be difficult to accommodate within a family’s daily routine. Their divorce came after six years of marriage. For Becky, separating meant building a life with the girls outside the constant demands of their father’s career. Hank continued enjoying enormous success throughout the decade. His earlier No. 1, “All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down,” had already explored the loneliness of watching others move toward quieter lives, though it preceded the divorce. Behind the chart records and packed venues, the family was adjusting to a different future. Hilary and Holly were growing up, Becky was providing their everyday home, and Hank’s expanding public life continued alongside the private consequences of a marriage that had ended.

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Finishing Waylon Jennings’s recordings sometimes brought Robby Turner to tears. A decade after his friend’s death, the sound of Waylon’s guitar could still catch him unprepared. The tracks began during Waylon’s final years, recorded mostly with his voice and guitar alongside Turner’s bass. When Waylon died in 2002, the fuller arrangements remained unfinished. With Jessi Colter’s approval, Turner brought together musicians who had worked with Waylon to complete them. The album appeared in 2012 as *Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings*. Adding steel guitar to “Belle of the Ball,” Turner heard Waylon playing near the song’s end and felt a tear fall. He later described those emotional moments to NPR. Jessi, taking part in the interview, had never heard him speak about them before. Turner remembered their measure of a successful session: they kept playing until Waylon smiled. Finishing the album meant trusting that memory to guide the music.

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Randy Travis had asked Garth Brooks to welcome him into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Garth sang “Three Wooden Crosses” in his honor. Later that evening, Randy’s own voice filled the room. It was October 16, 2016, three years after a stroke had severely affected his speech. Assisted by his wife, Mary, and Brad Paisley, he climbed four steps onto the stage. Mary read his acceptance remarks beside him. She also told the audience that they sang together every day, then invited everyone to join them in “Amazing Grace.” Randy leaned into the microphone and sang the opening verse. Some words were difficult, but listeners could hear the baritone they knew. He also found a few words of thanks. “Thank you,” he said, stopping to catch his breath, “for everything you’ve done.” The audience remained on its feet, applauding for minutes. Garth had come to celebrate Randy’s place in country music. Randy gave the room another moment to remember.