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'He Was A Great Writer': Reba McEntire Remembers Toby Keith's Legacy Following Country Star's Demise Due To Stomach Cancer
Reba McEntire is reminiscing about her memories of touring with country icon Toby Keith after his death at the age of 62.
Reba McEntire is remembering Toby Keith's legacy following his death. Keith's family confirmed the country icon passed away peacefully at age 62 on the night of 5 February. McEntire has opened up about her memories of touring with the singer.
Reba McEntire remembers Toby Keith following his death
On 5 February, Toby Keith's family shared news of his death in a social media post. "Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on Feb. 5 surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage," read a statement. "Please respect the privacy of his family at this time."
During an interview about an upcoming collaboration with Sonic, Reba McEntire told PEOPLE, "We're going to miss him so much, not only as a friend but a fellow performer and person in the music business and from Oklahoma." "But he doesn't have to fight anymore, and he doesn't have to hurt anymore," she adds of Keith, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2021. "I hope one day to get to see him up in Heaven. Thank God we have his wonderful music to keep us company, even though he's not here on earth with us."
ALSO READ: 10 Best Toby Keith Songs Revisited As Singer Dies At 62 Following Stomach Cancer Battle
In the mid-'90s, both McEntire and Keith performed concerts together. "That was a lot of fun," she recalled of the tour. "Toby was more of the renegade, the outlaw type, and I'm the Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes, and so it was kind of like two ends of the spectrum."
"He was a great writer, a great singer. When Toby came on the radio, you knew who that was," added McEntire. "Toby Keith was a distinctive vocalist, a stylist, that you knew exactly who he was. So, that's a wonderful trait to have."
Referring to Keith's 2011 hit Red Solo Cup, McEntire stated that the lyrics of that song resonate with her, "He and I do have that in common — I do love me a Solo cup."
Exploring Toby Keith's life and career
Toby Keith Covel, born July 8, 1961, was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He released four studio albums in the 1990s, including Toby Keith and Greatest Hits Volume One, all of which earned gold or higher certification and featured top ten singles, including his chart-topping debut Should've Been a Cowboy.
Keith, signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, released his breakthrough single How Do You Like Me Now? in 1999, which became the number one country song of 2000. His subsequent albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock'n Y'all, each achieved four-time Platinum certification. Keith released a second Greatest Hits package in 2004, and Honkytonk University in 2006.
After DreamWorks' closure in 2005, Keith founded Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to form Show Dog-Universal Music in 2009. He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal, including White Trash with Money, Big Dog Daddy, That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy, American Ride, Bullets in the Gun, Clancy's Tavern, Hope on the Rocks, Drinks After Work, 35 MPH Town, The Bus Songs, and Peso in My Pocket. Keith also made his acting debut in 2006 with Broken Bridges and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in Beer for My Horses.
Keith has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and charted 61 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His longest-lasting number-one hits are Beer for My Horses and As Good as I Once Was with Willie Nelson. In January 2021, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Donald Trump alongside Ricky Skaggs.
Keith appeared in Telecom USA's TV advertisements for their discount long-distance telephone service 10-10-220 and starred in Ford commercials, singing original songs while driving Ford trucks. He appeared at the first Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-view on June 19, 2002, interrupting Jeff Jarrett's performance of Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue. He later entered the Gauntlet for the Gold main event, suplexing Jarrett and eliminating him. He later appeared on June 26, helping Scott Hall defeat Jarrett in singles action.
On October 29, 2011, Keith appeared on Fox Channel's Huckabee with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He played Bullets in the Gun and he joined Huckabee's house band to play a song at the end of the show. In December 2018, he appeared as a guest on Darci Lynne: My Hometown Christmas.
In June 2022, Keith announced that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer at the end of the prior year, having undergone chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for the past six months. He said that his battle with cancer had been pretty debilitating in a December 2022 press release. Keith died in his sleep in Oklahoma on February 5, 2024, at the age of 62.
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