Remembering Toby Keith -- country star passes after cancer battle

Country music singer Toby Keith has died at the age of 62 after battling stomach cancer since 2022.

The official Toby Keith website posted a statement Tuesday morning, Feb. 6, stating he “passed away peacefully last night Feb. 5, surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage".

Keith, who had announced his cancer diagnosis in 2022, was known for his patriotism after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. One of his biggest hit songs was “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue”, with lyrics bursting with patriotic pride:

“American girls and American guys/ We’ll always stand up and salute/ We’ll always recognize/ When we see Old Glory flying/ There’s a lot of men dead/ So we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our head”.

During his performing career, Keith went on 11 USO tours to visit and play for troops serving overseas.

Toby Keith plays in front of a packed house March 9, 2003, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file

Southeast Missourian editor Rick Fahr recalled one of Keith’s tours from 2008.

“The 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Arkansas National Guard deployed to Iraq, and some of our guys were in Baghdad. Toby Keith visited there and put on a concert. One of my buddies was around him most of the time he was there and said he seemed to really enjoy performing for the troops,” he said. “Somewhere I have a picture of Toby Keith patting him on the head, laughing out loud.”

Keith came to Cape Girardeau twice, once for the SEMO District Fair in 2000 and once to the Show Me Center in 2003.

Along with Rascal Flatts, Keith performed during the Show Me Center’s 15th anniversary year of events. Tickets were $44.75 apiece. A Southeast Missourian article quoted David Ross, director at the Show Me center in 2003, as saying he thought people may faint because of the price of the tickets.

“As a lesser star in 2000, Keith performed for about 3,000 at the SEMO District Fair. Those tickets were $17.50,” Ross said in the article.

Toby Keith plays at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau during a 2003 concert.Southeast Missourian file

On the day tickets went on sale for the Show Me Center performance, 4,400 tickets were sold, and when he played the show, there were 6,141 in attendance, according to Show Me Center officials.

Several people from around Southeast Missouri attended the concert at the Show Me Center, including Heather Lesch and her husband, Brian. She said it was a great concert and remembered his song “I Wanna Talk About Me” was a big hit.

“It was a great party atmosphere, and he interacted with the audience. He had a great song about hanging out with Willie Nelson and how Willie could handle partying better than he could,” Lesch said.

Trevor Morehead attended the show at only 6 years old with his parents. Morehead said it was the first concert he had ever attended and recalled being excited.

“We didn’t have great seats, so I couldn’t really see the stage unless I stood on my chair. The arena was loud. Everyone was standing almost the entire time. I remember getting tuckered out before Toby got on the stage and constantly bothering my parents asking where Toby was. Somehow I ended up falling asleep in those chairs, and my mom woke me up when Toby came on. I couldn’t believe he was finally there,” Morehead said.

Morehead said celebrity deaths do not usually affect him, but Keith’s passing is one of the exceptions as he has so many memories of him throughout his life, such as singing Keith’s songs in his dad’s truck, getting over heartbreaks in high school or singing karaoke with some of his best friends in college.

“When I think of Toby Keith, I think of patriotism and much more. He will be missed,” Morehead said about the country artist.

Keith was a seven-time Grammy nominee who had hits across the board from his first hit “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” to what he told the Boot in 2014 was “the stupidest song I ever heard in my life, but it’s so stupid it’s good” — “Red Solo Cup”.