"Courtesy Of The Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)"

TOBY KEITH OUSTED FROM ABC JULY 4TH TELEVISION SPECIAL (Peter Jennings nixed Keith after hearing Courtesy Of The Red, White & Blue) (Nashville, TN) Toby Keith, country star and reigning CMA Male Vocalist of The Year, was scheduled to appear on ABC`s July 4th Special but was cancelled off the show when host Peter Jennings, World News Tonight anchor, heard the lyrics of Keith`s current mega hit single "Courtesy of The Red, White & Blue" (The Angry American). Keith was confirmed last May 15 to open the special. The single is an outpouring of grief, anger and frustration Keith wrote following Sept. 11 and the earlier death of his father last year. The patriotic song tells of Toby`s father, a veteran who lost his eye while serving his country, and also features the lyric which Jennings vetoed: "This big dog will fight/When you rattle his cage/And you`ll be sorry that you messed with/The U.S. of A./`Cause we`ll put a boot in your ass/It`s the American way." Since this incident, there`s been a nationwide outpouring of support for Keith from fans, radio and media. Major profiles and articles have been done on Keith ranging from CNN`s Wolf Blitzer, CNN`s Talk Back, Headline News, USA Today, Time, People, and The Washington Post among other major periodicals. There will be an upcoming article in TV Guide and Access Hollywood is scheduled to air a major piece on July 3. On July 4th, Keith will headline a concert that will draw more that 48,000 at Cougar Stadium (Brigham Young Univ.) in Provo, Utah. Noted CNN personality Larry King will host the show. The network plans to interview Keith from the concert site that day which will be conducted by CNN anchor, Wolf Blitzer. At the concert Keith will perform his hit single--the fastest rising of his career and a cut from his new upcoming DreamWorks Records CD, "Unleashed" scheduled for release July 23. Keith recently completed a USO tour in The Balkans, which included the "hot zones" of Kosovo, Bosnia and Sarajevo. On this tour he met American service men, performed songs including his new hit single. Keith says: "It was a song I was inspired to write because I lost my father six-months before 9/11. Nobody wrote an angry American song, and this was one. It was the way everybody felt when they saw those two buildings fall!" Keith is currently headlining his "Unleashed" tour, sponsored by Coors Original, which will run thru this summer. 6/24/2002