2024: The year we lost country legend Toby Keith

As we look back on 2024, one of the most devastating losses for music fans was none other than the country legend Toby Keith. Known for chart-topping hits like “Who’s Your Daddy?” and “Made in America,” he passed away at the age of 62.

As announced on his official website, Keith passed away “peacefully” on Feb. 5, “surrounded by his loving family.” Elaine Schock, his publicist, told the New York Times he died in Oklahoma, where he had lived his entire life.

Keith publicly battled stomach cancer since his diagnosis in 2022, enduring treatments including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. According to his website, “he fought his fight with grace and courage.”

In an emotional interview with KWTV News 9 just weeks before his death, Keith shared how his battle with cancer was like a roller coaster, highlighting his Christian faith as a source of strength and hope. “You just sit here and wait on it to go away — it may not ever go away,” he added in the interview.

Image: News 9 Youtube/Youtube

Keith's music, characterized by its clever wordplay, humor, and macho bravado, spanned a range of styles from traditional honky-tonk to pop-country ballads and Southern rock.

With a career spanning decades, Keith saw over 60 of his singles reach the country charts, including 20 number-one hits, including ‘B e e r for My Horses.’ He sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.

Keith's journey to fame was not immediate; he signed his first record deal in his 30s after working various jobs including as a rodeo hand and oil field worker, according to the New York Times.

In 2018, he told Dan Rather that he went on a frantic tour after his first hit in 1993 ‘Should Have Been a Cowboy’ because he didn’t think the success would last.

Despite his vast popularity, Keith often found himself at the center of controversy, especially in politics, with songs like ‘Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)’ which came out after 9/11. “I was so angry when we were attacked here on American soil that it leaked out of me. You know, some people wept when they heard it,” he told CBS in 2003, amongst criticisms from people like fellow country stars the Dixie Chicks.

In 2004, he called himself a “conservative Democrat” and endorsed the re-election of George Bush, according to the Boston Globe. He later praised Barack Obama, but in 2008 to;ld CMT he had left the Democrats and registered as an independent. In 2017, he performed at a celebration for the inauguration of Donald Trump, who later gave him the National Medal of the Arts award.

Keith had also discussed the pressure to fit into a pop music mold, saying his record company wanted him to cross over like Shania Twain did, but he refused. “They were trying to get me to compromise, and I was living a miserable existence,” Keith told the Associated Press. “Everybody was trying to mold me into something I was not.”

Born in Clinton, Oklahoma, Toby Keith Covel grew up in a working-class environment, which continued to mark his music throughout his life. He worked with his dad on the oil rigs, but they declined in the 1980s and he was soon unemployed, according to Taste of Country.

Keith's path to success was marked by perseverance, as he started busking along the city’s Music Row, but didn’t find any luck. Eventually, one of his fans, a flight attendant, passed his demo tape to producer Harold Shedd while he was traveling. That’s what eventually led to his contract with Mercury Records.

Known for his bold personality, Keith also displayed moments of introspection and growth, particularly in his eventual reconciliation over past controversies, such as that with Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, which “got pretty vicious sometimes,” he later admitted to CMT.com in 2003.

The day before his death, he posted a very recent concert he performed to a crowd of cheering fans. “I couldn’t imagine being in that crowd and waking up the next day realizing you just saw him for the last time…devastating,” said a fan on Instagram.

Image: tobykeith/Instagram

Keith left behind his mother Carolyn; his wife of 39 years, Tricia (Lucus) Keith; two daughters, Shelley Covel and Krystal Sandubrae; a son, Stelen; a sister, Tonnie; a brother, Tracy; and four grandchildren.

Of course, tributes poured in from fans and fellow musicians. “Too many rides in my old man’s car listening to Toby Keith. Really hard thing to hear,” tweeted country star Zach Ryan. “Rest in peace friend we love you.”

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