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6. Feb. 2024 · CNN —. Country singer Toby Keith died Monday at the age of 62 after a battle with stomach cancer. “Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on February 5th, surrounded by his family. He fought...
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7. Feb. 2024 · Country music singer-songwriter Toby Keith, whose pro-American anthems were both beloved and criticized, has died. He was 62. A statement posted on his website says Keith died peacefully Monday surrounded by his family.
6. Feb. 2024 · 6 February 2024. By Ido Vock,BBC News. Getty Images. Toby Keith had previously been diagnosed with cancer. Toby Keith, a major country music star who sold tens of millions of records, has died...
- Overview
- Unabashed patriot
- Long road to stardom
- Finally arrives
- No stranger to controversy
Country music star Toby Keith has died, his social media sites and website announced early Tuesday. He was 62.
The statement said he "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."
Keith announced in June 2022 that he'd been undergoing treatment for stomach cancer since the previous fall.
The multiplatinum-selling singer-songwriter tweeted at the time that he'd had surgery and chemotherapy and radiation in the prior six months.
"So far, so good," the Oklahoma native said. "I need time to breathe, recover and relax.
"I am looking forward to spending this time with my family. But I will see the fans sooner than later. I can't wait."
Sometimes a polarizing figure in country music, the 6-foot-4 Keith broke out in the country boom years of the 1990s, crafting an identity around his macho, pro-American swagger and writing songs that fans loved to hear. During the course of his career, he publicly clashed with other celebrities and journalists and often pushed back against record executives who wanted to smooth his rough edges.
He was known for his overt patriotism on post 9/11 songs like "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," and boisterous barroom tunes like "I Love This Bar" and "Red Solo Cup." He had a powerful booming voice, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and a range that carried love songs as well as drinking songs.
Keith worked as a roughneck in the oil fields of Oklahoma as a young man, then played semi-pro football before launching his career as a singer.
"I write about life, and I sing about life, and I don't overanalyze things," Keith told The Associated Press in 2001, following the success of his song "I'm Just Talking About Tonight."
Keith learned good lessons in the booming oil fields, which toughened him up, but also showed him the value of money.
"The money to be made was unbelievable," Keith told The Associated Press in 1996. "I came out of high school in 1980 and they gave me this job December of 1979, $50,000 a year. I was 18-years-old."
But the domestic oil field industry collapsed and Keith had not saved. "It about broke us," he said. "So I just learned. I've taken care of my money this time."
He spent a couple of seasons as a defensive end for the Oklahoma City Drillers, a farm team for the now-defunct United States Football League. But he found consistent money playing music with his band throughout the red dirt roadhouse circuit in Oklahoma and Texas.
Eventually his path took him to Nashville, where he attracted the interest of Mercury Records head Harold Shedd, who was best known as a producer for the hit group Alabama. Shedd brought him to Mercury, where he released his platinum debut record "Toby Keith," in 1993.
"Should've Been a Cowboy," his breakout hit, was played 3 million times on radio stations, making it the most played country song of the 1990s.
But the label's focus on global star Shania Twain overshadowed the rest of the roster and Keith felt the executives were trying to push him in a pop direction.
"They were trying to get me to compromise, and I was living a miserable existence," Keith told the AP. "Everybody was trying to mold me into something I was not."
After a series of albums that produced hits like "Who's That Man," and the cover of Sting's "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying," Keith moved to DreamWorks Records in 1999.
That's when his multi-week "How Do You Like Me Now?!" took off and became his first song to crossover to Top 40 charts. In 2001, he won male vocalist of the year and album of the year at the Academy of Country Music Awards, exclaiming from the stage: "I've waited a long time for this. Nine years!"
Keith often wore his politics on his sleeve, especially after the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil in 2001, and early on said he was a conservative Democrat, but later claimed he was an independent. He's played at events for Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the latter giving him a National Medal of the Arts in 2021. His songs and his blunt opinions sometimes caused him controversy, which he seemed to court.
His 2002 song, "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" included a threat —"We'll put a boot in your ass - It's the American way" — to anyone who dared to mess with America.
The song got pulled from a patriotic ABC Fourth of July special after producers deemed it too angry for the show. Singer-songwriter Steve Earle called Keith's song "pandering to people's worst instincts at a time they are hurt and scared."
Then there was the feud between Keith and The Chicks (formerly called the Dixie Chicks), who became a target of Keith's ire when singer Natalie Maines told a crowd that they were ashamed of then President George W. Bush. Maines had also previously called Keith's song "ignorant."
Keith, who had previously claimed that he supported any artist's freedom to voice their opinion about politics, used a doctored photo of Maines with an image of Saddam Hussein at his concerts, further ramping up angry fans.
Maines responded by wearing a shirt with the letters "FUTK" onstage at the 2003 ACM Awards, which many people believed was a vulgar message to Keith.
6. Feb. 2024 · By Patrick Smith. Country music icon Toby Keith has died, his official website and social media accounts said early Tuesday, 18 months after he reveal ed he had stomach cancer. He was 62. Keith,...
6. Feb. 2024 · Feb. 6, 2024. Toby Keith, the larger-than-life singer-songwriter of No. 1 country hits like “Who’s Your Daddy?” and “Made in America” and one of the biggest stars to come out of Nashville...
6. Feb. 2024 · Toby Keith, the country music superstar behind some of the biggest hit songs to come out of Nashville, has died at age 62. Keith died on Monday, his publicist confirmed to NPR, and his...
