US country singer Toby Keith dies at 62 after cancer battle
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Country singer Toby Keith died in Oklahoma, on Feb 5, where he had lived his entire life.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW YORK – Toby Keith, the larger-than-life American singer-songwriter of No. 1 country hits such as Who’s Your Daddy? and Made In America, and one of the biggest stars to come out of Nashville in three decades, died on Feb 5. He was 62.
His death was announced on his official website. The announcement did not say where he died. His publicist Elaine Schock said only that he died in Oklahoma, where he had lived his entire life.
Keith announced in June 2022 that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer and was being treated with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.
In a recent interview with the Oklahoma City television station KWTV, Keith, who played a run of shows in Las Vegas in December, said he was still undergoing treatment.
Singing in an alternately declamatory and crooning baritone, Keith cultivated a boisterous, in-your-face persona with recordings such as I Wanna Talk About Me and Beer For My Horses.
He wrote or co-wrote most of his material, which ranged stylistically from traditional honky-tonk to Southern rock.
More than 60 of his singles reached the country chart, including 20 No. 1 hits, and he sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.
Keith was in his 30s when he signed his first record deal in 1993. He had previously worked as a rodeo hand, a roughneck in the Oklahoma oil fields and a semi-professional football player to support his young family.
The singer was often a lightning rod for controversy, especially where politics were concerned.
Perhaps the most prominent instance was with Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue (The Angry American). Keith wrote the song in response to the 9/11 attacks and the death of his father, a veteran who was disabled.
The record triggered a dispute with Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks (now the Chicks), who heard the song as the ugliest sort of nationalism.
“I don’t apologise for being patriotic,” Keith said in a 2007 interview with American newspaper Newsday.
Toby Keith Covel was born on July 8, 1961, in Clinton, Oklahoma, the second of three children of Carolyn Joan Covel and Hubert K. Covel Jr.
Country singer Toby Keith performs during a welcome event for then-President-elect Donald Trump in Washington in 2017.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Keith grew up primarily in Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City.
At 20, he and several friends formed a group called the Easy Money Band and started playing in local bars before graduating to the Texas and Oklahoma roadhouse circuit.
His debut album, titled Toby Keith, produced four Top 10 country singles and was certified platinum for sales of one million copies.
Keith earned Country Music Association honours for Vocalist of the Year in 2001 and Entertainer of the Year nominations in 2002 and 2003.
In 2005, he founded independent label Show Dog Nashville, for which he continued to have success. Red Solo Cup, a country-rap number, hit No. 1 on the country chart and crossed over to the pop Top 20 in 2011.
He had acting roles in two feature films – Broken Bridges in 2006 and Beer For My Horses, a 2008 movie based on his hit single. He also appeared in television commercials for Ford trucks.
In 2021, he was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts.
Keith is survived by his mother; his wife of 39 years, Tricia Keith; two daughters, Shelley Covel and Krystal Sandubrae; a son, Stelen; a sister, Tonnie; a brother, Tracy; and four grandchildren. NYTIMES
