Toby Keith Says He’s ‘Feeling Pretty Good’ After Stomach Cancer Diagnosis, Hopes to Tour ‘This Fall’
Written by djfrosty on June 28, 2023
Toby Keith is feeling hopeful after first revealing to fans in June 2022 that he has been battling stomach cancer. One year later, the country star opened up about his health ahead of his annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic with The Oklahoman, and shared that things are looking up.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he shared with the newspaper earlier in June. “Basically, everything is in a real positive trend … you never know with cancer, so you have to prepare.”
When the singer-songwriter first shared his diagnosis, he revealed that he already had six months of treatment — including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation — under his belt. “So far, so good,” he tweeted at the time. “I need time to breathe, recover and relax.”
Now that he’s had some time to take care of his health, Keith said he’s hopeful about getting back to entertaining fans in person. “I’ve got more wind,” the 61-year-old told the paper. “And I’m thinking about bringing the band in and setting up, playing two or three days somewhere just to see if I can get through two hours.” If that goes well, he’s hoping to be “out on the road this fall.”
“All I gotta do is see if I can get through two or three nights of work and get a little break in this chemo, and we’ll go back to work,” continued the seven-time Grammy nominee, who added that his tumor has shrunk.
On Monday, the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic announced that it had raised $1.8 million in support of OK Kids Korral, a lodging facility of the Toby Keith Foundation’s that provides a free place to stay for parents to stay while their kids are fighting cancer. The top bids at the event’s auction included $120,000 for a guitar signed by Taylor Swift, $80,000 for a fishing trip with Keith and pro fisher Jimmy Houston, $70,000 for a dinner with Keith, $20,000 for a Game of Thrones trip to Croatia (11 were sold) and more.