Video: Toby Keith officially makes "Red Solo Cup" a single

It’s no surprise considering the number of fans eager to toast it, but Oklahoma country music superstar Toby Keith has officially made the boozy party anthem “Red Solo Cup” his latest single.

According to a news release, Keith’s Show Dog-Universal has made “Red Solo Cup” the most remarkable and commercially successful new country single in recent memory. An album cut from Keith’s recently released No. 1 album “Clancy’s Tavern,” the song became a viral video sensation even before the album’s debut. Radio stations pulled audio straight from YouTube and began playing “Red Solo Cup,” and now it’s officially the second single from “Clancy’s Tavern.”

While the album’s first single “Made In America” shot to No. 1, it’s successor has an unparalleled head start. Already the No. 1 downloaded country song, the video has surpassed 4 million online views and is the No. 1 requested video on CMT. As it becomes an official single, “Red Solo Cup” is already receiving airplay on three-fourths of reporting country stations, according to the release.

The “Cup” is sweeping through popular culture in other ways, too. The hit Fox television show “Glee” will feature the song in its Dec. 6 episode. “Red Solo Cup” has been used as a music bed in spots for the new Tim Allen sitcom” Last Man Standing”. Major media hailing the tune have included the Boston Herald, Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, Slate, AOL and NPR.

The song is so popular, crowds have continued singing it long after Keith finishes his performance of the song during is “Locked & Loaded” tour stops. In fact, the Norman has even played the song twice at shows in an attempt to satiate his fans’ thirst for the tune.

In a recent phone interview, Keith told me that during the standing-room-only dates on his “Locked & Loaded Tour,” the crew started dressing up in giant red Solo cup costumes and doling out the mini versions of the cups to the frenzied crowd. Keith is taking his tour to Europe starting Sunday with a date in Edinburgh, Scotland.

During our chat, the Norman resident jokingly called “Red Solo Cup” “the most profound, intelligent thing I’ve ever done.”