Country music legend Toby Keith passed away in 2022 after a courageous battle with stomach cancer. During his fight, his physical appearance changed significantly due to treatment. Let’s delve into Toby Keith’s weight loss and his inspiring battle against cancer.
WHO IS TOBY KEITH?
Toby Keith was a famous country music singer from Oklahoma. His big break came in the early 1990s with the song “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” Over the years, he had many hit songs like “How Do You Like Me Now?!” and “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.” His music is about loving America, love, and regular folks. He even acted in movies and started his own restaurant chain.
DOES TOBY KEITH HAVE AN ILLNESS?
Yes. Unfortunately, country singer Toby Keith passed away Monday night at the age of 62, over two years after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.
In June 2022, Keith announced on X that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2021 and had already undergone chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
Keith told The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City that his tumor had shrunk by a third and that he was continuing chemotherapy. He also mentioned receiving immunotherapy, a treatment that helps the immune system destroy cancer cells.
His death has prompted renewed calls from doctors to be vigilant about the signs of stomach cancer, which include heartburn, acid reflux, anemia, nausea, ulcers, pain after eating, sudden weight loss, and feeling full after eating small amounts.
TOBY KEITH WEIGHT LOSS: RISING ABOVE THE CHALLENGES OF ILLNESS
Even though he has passed away, his positive spirit and strong will when it comes to his illness still make everyone admire him. When it comes to music, it seems his spirit is more excited than ever.
In an open interview with E! News at the People’s Choice Country Awards in September 2023, Keith described his health as “little bit of a roller coaster,” noting that “you get good days and, you know, you’re up and down, up and down.” I feel fantastic even though it’s usually zero to sixty and sixty to zero.
Keith announced his Vegas performances and expressed his anticipation for returning to the stage “Hey, everyone! It’s Toby Keith here. In a YouTube video, he said, “It’s been a while. You are aware of my activities; I have been riding the old rollercoaster while riding a shotgun with Almighty. For some reason, he’s letting me drive, but we have a major announcement to make.
He continued, providing the dates of the upcoming shows. “Getting the band back in rhythm, getting myself rolling again—those gigs are kind of like rehab for me,” he explained.
He remarked. “The old devil has been pursuing me a little bit through COVID and cancer.”
“We’re going to get the band back together instead of just waiting around since I currently have him by the horns. And they were together again, for the very last time. As Keith’s family and friends get through this trying time, our thoughts are with them.”
WHAT DOCTORS SAY ABOUT STOMACH CANCER?
“A lot of these things are relatively innocuous. But of course with a cancer, that’s how it gets you,” Dr. Fabian Johnston, who serves as the division chief of gastrointestinal oncology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, remarked.
Johnston pointed out that doctors and patients often overlook symptoms such as acid reflux, mistakenly assuming they are harmless, which can lead to delayed diagnoses. By the time symptoms manifest, many individuals already have advanced stages of the disease. He also noted that the average age of diagnosis is 68, with men having a slightly higher risk.
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 27,000 new cases of stomach cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year. Despite this projection, stomach cancer remains relatively uncommon, accounting for only about 1.5% of newly diagnosed cancers in the United States annually.
Over the past decade, there has been a slight decrease in the overall rates of stomach cancer diagnoses. However, there has been an increase in rates among adults under the age of 50, a trend for which the reasons remain unclear.
“There’s something that’s going on — something we’re eating, something we’re ingesting, some combination of factors that’s modern and present — which is resulting in these increased cancers in young people,” said Dr. Ben Schlechter, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Schlechter noted that while alcohol and tobacco were previously significant contributors to stomach cancer cases, they are now associated with a minority of cases in the U.S., possibly due to decreased smoking rates.
Instead, a lot of new cases are in people with long-term acid reflux or infections with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, which can make the stomach swollen. But scientists don’t know why some people with these problems get stomach cancer and most don’t.
For many patients right now, “it’s a disease of bad luck,” Schlechter said. “Maybe there’s an association with H. pylori infection. Maybe there’s a history of heartburn or reflux, but usually it’s not as clear.”
Schlechter mentioned that stomach cancer is usually very serious compared to other types of cancer.
“It doesn’t mean that people are imminently dying. It just means that the tools that we have to cure them are pretty limited,” he said. “People do pretty well compared to 15 years ago, but we are hardly at the level of, say, breast cancer, where the commanding majority of people are cured with surgery and chemotherapy and things like that.”
Most stomach cancers in the U.S. (up to 95%) are adenocarcinomas. They begin in the inner lining of the stomach and can spread to the stomach wall, the body of the stomach, or the lymph nodes.
TOBY KEITH CAREER
Toby Keith carved a legendary country music career, leaving behind a massive impact. After early stints in the oil fields and semi-pro football, he shifted gears in the 1990s, landing a record deal and skyrocketing to fame with his chart-topping debut single “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” Throughout his career, he became a prolific artist, writing and producing many of his hits, amassing an impressive 32 No. 1 singles and racking up over 40 million albums sold. While music remained his focus, he also dabbled in acting, appearing in movies throughout the years.
TOBY KEITH EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Toby Keith Covel was born on July 8, 1961, in Clinton, Oklahoma. He grew up with his sister and brother, mostly in Moore, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City. As a kid, he spent summers in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where his grandma ran a club with live music. Watching those musicians got him interested in playing guitar, which he got when he was eight.
After moving to Moore, he went to Highland West Junior High and then Moore High School, where he played football. After high school, he worked in the oil fields, starting from the bottom and working his way up to being a supervisor. But his real passion was music. When he was 20, he and his friends formed a band called Easy Money Band, playing gigs in local bars while he still worked in the oil fields. Sometimes he had to leave concerts to go work in the oil fields.
In the early ’80s, the oil industry in Oklahoma took a hit, and Toby found himself without a job. He tried out for a professional football team but didn’t make it. Instead, he played for a semi-pro team while still performing with his band. After that, he decided to focus solely on music. Easy Money Band started playing in bars and clubs around Oklahoma and Texas, building up their reputation in the honky-tonk scene.
FAQ
1. Why did Toby Keith quit chemotherapy?
Toby Keith reportedly stopped chemotherapy in the months leading up to his passing in 2023. The exact reasons haven’t been made public, but according to his friend Brett Favre, Keith expressed feeling tired from the treatment’s toll.
2. Where was Toby Keith living when he passed away?
Toby Keith passed away in Oklahoma on February 5, 2024.
3. How rich was Toby Keith?
$400 million.
CONCLUSION
Toby Keith, a famous country music star, died when he was 62 years old on February 5, 2024. He had been fighting stomach cancer for some time. People have been wondering about his weight loss, thinking it might be connected to his sickness. Toby talked openly about his health struggles, focusing on staying strong during his last public appearance in September 2023.
