This morning, it was announced via his website and social media that country music singer/songwriter Toby Keith passed away yesterday (February 5) at the age of 62 after battling stomach cancer for more than two years. According to the pages, he was surrounded by family, died peacefully during the night and “fought his fight with grace and courage.”
The Oklahoma native’s first band, the Easy Money Band, formed in the 1980s and, after spending some years busking on Music Row in Nashville, he scored a #1 hit with his debut single “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” He’d go on to release other hits through the decade, including “Who’s That Man,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and “I Love This Bar.”
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Keith assumed the role of being country music’s patriotic, problematic spokesperson, visiting U.S. troops and releasing the song “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” His subsequent feud with The Chicks, which included him displaying bandleader Natalie Maines’ face on a screen beside Saddam Hussein after the group denounced George W. Bush and the Iraq War, forever cemented his legacy as a reactionary, irritating figure in country music that he would not let up on. Later, Keith would go on to perform at an inauguration event celebrating the election victory of Donald Trump in 2017.
Before his death, Keith had amassed a total of 20 #1 hits on the country charts, a National Medal of Arts and numerous music awards, including Male Vocalist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2001. The Academy of Country Music named him Entertainer of the Decade in 2011 and, in 2015, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.