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Should've been a cowboy.[edit]
All references to this claim of “Should’ve been a cowboy” being the “most-played country song” of the 1990s link back to a comment made in an article on CMT News from 01 Mar 2007 (accessed via wayback machine at https://web.archive.org/web/20150928163512/http://www.cmt.com/news/1553672/toby-keith-jams-notches-50-million-airplays/ )
This article is about an event at BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) two days prior that celebrated Keith getting 50 million airplay performances. In the article, Craig Shelburne makes a claim that “Should’ve been a cowboy” was “ultimately the most-played country song of the 1990s.”
He doesn’t offer any attribution to that claim.
In the article published by BMI on 2 March 2007 about that evening, the organization discusses that song along with a few others. It rattles off a few facts about Keith and some of his songs but makes no mention of this claim.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/50_million_performances_cant_be_wrong_bmi_toasts_toby_keith
In an article published by BMI on 7 Apr 2003 about recently achieved airplay milestones references “Should’ve been a cowboy” hitting 3 million. Showing that it has only achieved that milestone in the years following the decade in question. It also makes no mention of the “most played song” claim.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/20030408_toby_keith_celebrates_million_air_windfall
An earlier article from BMI about Keith donating to the NSAI artist endowment discusses the hit single, saying Keith “racked up his share of mainstream success” and mentions the nominations and awards the song received, but makes no mention of the “most played” claim.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/20000921_toby_keith_honored_for_nsai_artist_endowment_gift
Later articles about Keith are also missing any reference to this claim despite them citing several other accomplishments of Keith’s.
On 17 Sep 2009 BMI has an article about Keith being honored as the NSAI artist of the decade. The article discusses his growing airplay performance count (eclipsing 60 million) and cites “Should’ve been a cowboy” as one of his hits, but again makes no reference to the ‘most played” claim.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/toby_keith_to_be_honored_as_nsai_songwriter_artist_of_the_decade
On 31 Aug 2016 BMI has an article announcing Keith being awarded 7 BMI Million-Air awards. It lists 7 songs including 3 that have 4 million or more plays. It references that Keith also has certificates for past tracks including “Should’ve been a cowboy” but makes no mention of an increase in the award level for that song, suggesting it is still at 3 million.
There is also no mention of the “most played” claim.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/toby_keith_awarded_seven_bmi_million_air_awards
In an undated article in 2022 Keith is given the “BMI Icon Award.” It references a litany of accomplishments and specifically names “Should’ve been a cowboy” as his first hit, but makes no reference to the ‘most played’ claim.
https://www.bmi.com/award-shows/country-2022/
Additionally, an article from Billboard.com on 7 Dec 2018 Specifically about “Should’ve been a cowboy” hitting its 25th anniversary discusses several facts about the song and some facts about Keith’s career in general and fails to mention any claim about it being the ‘most played’ country song of the 90s.
From 1990 to 1999 there have been 16 songs that have held the number 1 spot on the country charts for four weeks. Eight songs that have held the number 1 spot for five weeks, three that have held it for six weeks, and one that held it for eight weeks. “Should’ve been a cowboy” held it for just 2 weeks, along with dozens of other songs.
While it isn’t impossible for a song to still manage to get more plays than any other over the course of the decade, it is certainly unlikely that the most popular song of the decade would be one that only held the top spot for 2 weeks.
A slew of tributes to Keith since his passing – including pieces from Vanity Fair and the AP – have cited this ‘Most played” claim.
Notably, the tribute from BMI does not.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/bmi-remembers-legendary-singer-songwriter-toby-keith
This claim started as an unsubstantiated, uncited claim on a CMT story that is no longer visible on the live web. It has permeated into dozens of articles about Keith since his passing. The likely source for this misinformation is Wikipedia.
Unless we are to believe the unlikely reality that a short-lived number one song managed to outperform every other song from the decade and that an organization which frequently honored Mr. Keith and listed off many accomplishments, never bothered to mention this one – even in their memoriam, and that Billboard.com also never bothered to mention it, then we must conclude it is false and we must remove this claim unless it can be substantiated in a primary source of some sort.
BigFellow1916 (talk) 21:05, 6 February 2024 (UTC)