John Rich thinks Taylor Swift should have already paid tribute to country singer Toby Keith.

The country music legend died of cancer aged 62 on Monday and among his many achievements includes helping propel Swift to fame early in her career.

That fact was highlighted on X, formerly Twitter, where journalist Matt Couch shared a video of a teenage Swift gushing about Keith in 2006.

john rich and taylor swift

John Rich (L) speaks at the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards on April 18, 2015 in Arlington, Texas. (R) Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California..

Couch’s post read: “Going to be interesting to see what she says about Toby Keith.. Without Toby Keith there wouldn’t be a Taylor Swift.. Toby signed her to his record label and gave her, her start.. Hope she recognizes that today.. like she should..”

Country singer Rich reposted it and shared his thoughts on the matter.

“When is@taylorswift13 going to share some words about Toby Keith? The man who discovered her, got her the 1st record deal? Taylor, where are you today? #TobyKeith,” the singer wrote.

In the video, Swift sings Keith’s praises and talks about being starstruck by him.

“You’re in the room with him and you can feel it. There’s a power there and you’re just like, ‘Oh my God.’ I don’t think I’ll ever get to a point where I won’t see him and be like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Toby Keith’,” she says.

Swift attended the Grammys on Sunday where she became the first person to win Album of the Year four times and later jetted to Japan to perform her Eras Tour.

Other than announcing the Eras Tour will come to Disney+ in March and a new album due out in April, she has not posted much on her social media since Keith’s death.

Keith helped found the label Swift first signed to and was with until 2019, and he is regularly credited with giving the singer her start.

But the pair diverged politically in recent years. Keith was a massive supporter of Donald Trump, while Swift endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 elections.

John Rich Calls Out Taylor Swift Over Silence On Toby Keith

He also was a vocal critic of The Chicks (previously The Dixie Chicks) who criticized George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Keith used an image of The Chicks’ main singer Natalie Maines— who had said she was ashamed of the invasion— and photoshopped it next to an image of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, which he used as a backdrop during his live shows.

Swift later spoke about how the treatment of The Chicks, and especially Maines, helped ignite her passion for speaking out.

“Throughout my whole career, label executives and publishers would say, ‘don’t be like the Dixie Chicks,'” she said in her 2020 Netflix documentary, Miss Americana.