In 2011, Toby Keith was recording a song so ridiculous that even the president of his own record label couldn’t understand why a successful country star would waste time on it.
The song was about a red plastic cup. Nothing more complicated than that.
But Toby Keith had a feeling about it. He knew it was silly, and he didn’t particularly care. What interested Toby Keith was how the little tune seemed to stick in people’s heads long after they had stopped listening.
Then something happened inside the recording studio that proved Toby Keith’s point better than any argument could have.
Four Songwriters and One Ridiculous Idea
The song was called Red Solo Cup, and Toby Keith hadn’t written a single word of it.
That alone was unusual. Toby Keith had built much of his career around recording songs he wrote or co-wrote. But this particular number came from two sets of brothers: Brett and Brad Warren, known as the Warren Brothers, and Brett and Jim Beavers.
The four songwriters had been working together as a deliberately unconventional group called the Warren Beavers. Rather than concentrating on serious country ballads, they wanted to create music that made them laugh.
The result was a strange little tribute to an ordinary disposable party cup.
In a 2019 interview with American Songwriter, Brett Warren explained that the group had deliberately approached music with the carefree attitude of a college band. The song wasn’t originally intended to become a major country hit.
But when Toby Keith heard it, something clicked.
He understood that a song didn’t always have to be serious to connect with an audience. Sometimes it only needed a funny idea and a melody people couldn’t forget.
So Toby Keith decided to record it for his upcoming album, Clancy’s Tavern.
Two Very Different Reactions Inside the Studio
During the recording session, Toby Keith’s sister stopped by the studio. She had never heard the song before.
According to Toby Keith’s October 2011 interview with Taste of Country, his sister began laughing as soon as she heard the first vocal take.
When Toby Keith returned to the room, she told him she loved the song.
Toby Keith admitted that it was pretty stupid. His sister agreed it was hilarious.
The following day, she returned to the studio already singing it.
That was the reaction Toby Keith had been hoping for.
But Mark Wright, Toby Keith’s record-label partner and an experienced Nashville producer, had a completely different opinion.
Mark Wright had worked with respected songwriters and major country recordings. He knew what a professionally crafted hit was supposed to sound like.
And here was Toby Keith, one of Nashville’s most successful songwriters, recording a silly tribute to a plastic cup.
Mark Wright couldn’t understand it.
When Toby Keith asked whether Mark Wright liked the song, the response was straightforward.
“It’s just stupid.”
Toby Keith didn’t argue or try to defend the song’s artistic importance.
Instead, Toby Keith laughed and replied:
“I’m stupid sometimes myself.”
That could have been the end of the conversation. But the next morning brought an unexpected development.
The Man Who Hated the Song Couldn’t Get It Out of His Head
When Mark Wright returned to the studio the following day, Toby Keith immediately noticed how exhausted he looked.
Toby Keith asked what was wrong.
Mark Wright admitted that he hadn’t slept much the previous night.
The problem wasn’t a business meeting, a recording deadline, or a disagreement over the album.
It was Red Solo Cup.
Mark Wright told Toby Keith that the ridiculous song had been repeating in his head all night. By approximately four in the morning, Mark Wright said he had taken a sleeping pill because he couldn’t get the tune out of his mind.
The same man who had dismissed the recording as stupid had spent the night hearing it over and over again.
Toby Keith understood the irony immediately.
In a later interview, Toby Keith remembered responding to Mark Wright’s confession by pointing out that this was exactly why he had decided to record it.
Mark Wright had experienced the very thing Toby Keith recognized when he first heard the song: it was almost impossible to forget.
What Happened After the Recording Session
When Red Solo Cup appeared in October 2011, it was unlike most songs country radio had been playing.
Its music video featured appearances by celebrities including Larry Bird, Roger Clemens, Craig Ferguson, and several fellow entertainers. The video spread rapidly online, attracting attention before the song had received the usual level of radio promotion.
The single eventually reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
By July 2012, Red Solo Cup had been certified double platinum, representing two million digital sales.
And in December 2011, when Toby Keith received the Artist of the Decade honor at the American Country Awards, he closed the ceremony by performing the song. The four men who wrote it joined Toby Keith onstage, while other entertainers raised red cups and sang along.
The joke that had begun among four songwriters had become a nationwide singalong.
Looking back, perhaps the funniest part of the entire story wasn’t the song itself.
It was the night Mark Wright discovered that Toby Keith had been right about it all along.
The record-label president had called the song stupid. But by four in the morning, he knew every reason that stupid little song might become a hit.