Iconic country music singer Toby Keith has died.
The Oklahoma-born star was only 62 years old, but he’d been battling stomach cancer for the last year and a half after first announcing his fight in the summer of 2022. According to reports from Keith’s team on his social media accounts, he passed away on Monday night.
Related: ‘Rocky’ Star Carl Weathers Dead At 76
Early on Tuesday morning, Keith’s official X (Twitter) account revealed the awful news. A statement posted alongside a picture of the performer read:
“Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on February 5th, surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time.”
— Toby Keith (@tobykeith) February 6, 2024
So sad.
Keith was one of the biggest names in country music for more than three decades, with two dozen (!) studio and compilation albums to his name and two Christmas records to boot. He released a whopping 61 tracks that appeared on the Billboard Hot Country charts — 20 of which hit number one along with 22 more that spent time in the top ten. From Who’s Your Daddy? to Should Have Been A Cowboy, and from As Good As I Once Was to Beer For My Horses, Keith was a force in country music.
He was no stranger to controversy, either, having feuded for a long time with Natalie Maines and the Chicks following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. And in 2002, controversy reached a fever pitch after he released Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American) as an aggressive response to 9/11 as well as in reaction to the death of his father — a disabled war veteran — in a car accident earlier that year.
Interestingly, Toby spoke with a Tulsa-area television station about his cancer battle less than two weeks ago:
Like we said, as far as country music goes, this is a big, big loss. Our hearts go out to Toby’s family, friends, and loved ones.
R.I.P.
[Image via FayesVision/WENN/Toby Keith VEVO/YouTube]
Related Posts
-
Categories
