• 10 months ago
Toby Keith Dead at 62

Category

People
Transcript
00:00 He's got the red, white, blue, brown hat on the farm.
00:03 Semper Fi tattooed on his left arm.
00:06 Spend a little more in the store for a tag.
00:08 In the back it says USA.
00:12 Toby Keith has died following his battle with cancer.
00:15 He was 62 years old.
00:17 A statement posted to Toby's website shared that he passed peacefully on February 5th,
00:27 surrounded by his family.
00:29 He fought his fight with grace and courage.
00:32 Please respect the privacy of his family at this time.
00:35 I was writing as a teenager and watching other people mesmerize people with songs they were writing.
00:41 And I would look and I would go, "I can do better than that. I've got to be better than that."
00:45 And at every level I knew I had to.
00:48 I may not be the best singer, I may not be the best writer, but I'm going to outwork him.
00:58 Toby's singing career kicked off in 1993
01:01 with the release of his debut single "Should Have Been a Cowboy."
01:04 Toby's career spanned decades as he continued to put out hit after hit,
01:22 including "Who's Your Daddy" in 2009.
01:25 Who's your daddy? Who's your baby?
01:28 Who's your buddy? Who's your friend?
01:32 And "Red Solo Cup" in 2011.
01:35 Red Solo Cup, I fill you up. Let's have a party.
01:42 I put an album out every year for 20 years.
01:45 I didn't have those three-year breaks.
01:47 And you pile those numbers up and you look at them and it creates 100 million spins
01:51 and in BMI people start going, "Holy cow, your catalog's a monster."
01:55 And it was just my dad instilled that work ethic in me.
01:59 End of the day, we're here today.
02:01 In 2022, Toby revealed he'd been privately battling stomach cancer for months
02:06 and he was taking time to breathe, recover and relax.
02:09 Fast forward to last June, Toby, an Oklahoma native,
02:12 told The Oklahoman he'd been undergoing chemotherapy and things were looking good.
02:17 During that time, his country music community sent love his way.
02:20 He really is just--he's such an icon.
02:22 Also just a hero of ours.
02:25 But just as a human being, you hate to hear that kind of news from anyone.
02:31 We're just sending love and support.
02:33 I know that it had to have been a hard decision to share the news,
02:37 and so we just want him to know that we're praying.
02:41 He's a legend and it's always tough to hear.
02:44 Obviously, if there would be anything that we could do, we would.
02:48 Country music is a family, and it feels like one of our family members is hurting.
02:53 So we are obviously here for anything and to offer our support and help in any way that we possibly can.
03:00 Toby is survived by his wife of 39 years, Tricia, and their three children.
03:05 [music]
03:11 (bells chiming)
03:13 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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