Toby Keith Dead at 62 After Stomach Cancer Battle

Toby Keith, who built one of the biggest country music careers of his generation, has died. According to a post on his social media pages, Keith died on Monday (Feb. 5) after a long battle with cancer. He was 62 years old.

“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.”

Keith revealed his illness to fans in 2022 but was actually diagnosed a year earlier. In the months that followed the diagnosis he underwent treatment including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, and dialed back his performing schedule. In summer of 2023, he made his return to the stage with a pair of pop-up bar shows in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. That fall, Keith gave his first television performance since his diagnosis, singing “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” the tale of mortality he wrote for Clint Eastwood’s 2018 film The Mule, at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards in Nashville.

Onstage at the awards, his voice was strong, but Keith appeared thin. “Bet you all never thought you’d see me in skinny jeans,” he joked. It was a stark contrast to the burly, boisterous Toby Keith that barnstormed country music in the decades prior, striking an imposing presence on concert stages in flannel shirts (often with the sleeves cut off), jeans, and a straw cowboy hat. He looked every part of his nickname: “Big Dog Daddy.”

Born Toby Keith Covel in Clinton, Okla., on July 8, 1961, Keith hung around his grandmother’s supper club in Fort Smith, Ark., during some of his formative years, and that’s where he began to pick up music, getting his first guitar at the age of 8 and sometimes joining the band on stage.

Keith sought his fortunes in Nashville in the early ’90s, but the labels in town initially rebuffed him before a fan of Keith’s who worked as a flight attendant gave his demo to Harold Shedd, an executive at Mercury Records who offered Keith a recording contract.

Remarkably, the album’s first single, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” hit Number One on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” was rich in Wild West hero imagery, namechecked singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and was written solely by Keith, who, despite having one of country’s most powerful voices, prioritized songwriting above all else. “I wanted to be better at it and I wanted to write the best songs I could write,” he told Billboard in 2018. “So if I wouldn’t have gotten a recording contract and had some success, I would have still been pitching songs. God forbid, if something ever happened to you and you couldn’t sing no more or perform, you could still write songs.”

While many of his peers relied on “outside songs” written by professional songwriters, Keith wrote or co-wrote many of his own chart-topping hits: “Who’s That Man,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!”, “You Shouldn’t Kiss Me Like This,” his duet with Willie Nelson “Beer for My Horses,” “I Love This Bar,” “American Soldier,” “Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue“, and “Made in America,” among them.

Keith’s signature blend of blue-collar anthems and proud, patriotic songs — mixed with some slower, romantic fare — built him into one of the most successful country artists of his generation, whose tours routinely sold out the biggest arenas and venues. He parlayed that success into a number of other business ventures, including a chain of restaurants called Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, a clothing line, a Mezcal brand, an acting career and more. His mix of musical and financial savvy made him one of the richest celebrities in the world, and Forbes dubbed Keith “Country Music’s $500 Million Man” in 2013.