Toby Keith Passes Away at Age 62

We have lost a true country legend.  Toby Keith has passed away at the age of 62.

According to NBC News, the country star's passing was announced via his official website and on his social media accounts.

The short statement explained that the country star passed away on February 5.

The statement also said:

He fought his fight with grace and courage

For the last several years, the star had been battling stomach cancer.  Many of us had believed he had beaten it.  Back in December, he had done a series of Las Vegas shows.  Additionally, he had released new music and was hinting at doing more shows.

Sadly, it appears that he was more ill than it was originally thought.

The life of Toby Keith

Toby Keith Covel was born on July 8, 1961.  He was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, but the family spent a few years in Arkansas before moving back to Oklahoma.

Toby Keith played football in high school, and worked on oil rigs after graduating.  During that time, he was a member of the Easy Money band.  They spent their weekends performing in local bars.

When the only industry started to die, he started making moves to get into music full-time.  In the early 1990s, he sent demos to labels in Nashville.  At first, there was no interest.  He kept working at it, though.

He got his big break when a flight attendant passed his demo on to Harry Shedd, an executive for Mercury Records.  He was signed by Mercury Nashville, and released his first album in 1993.

Keith's first single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", went to number one.

That song was followed by "Who's That Man?", "Me Too", "How Do You Like Me Now?", "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This", and "Courtesy of The Red White & Blue".  In total, Toby Keith had 20 number one singles.

Throughout his career, Toby Keith was a huge supporter of our armed forces.  Throughout the war on terror, he made several trips to the Middle East.  He performed for, and met with, the members of our armed forces.

In 2021, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer.  He revealed the diagnoses in 2022, explaining that he had surgery and other cancer treatments.

In December of 2023, he did a series of shows in Las Vegas.  Because of this, many people believed his cancer was going into remission.  It was hoped that he would make a full recovery and be back on the road.  Sadly, that was not the case.