Toby Keith Speaks Out On His Cancer Battle For The First Time Since His Diagnosis

Toby Keith shockingly confessed his bout with stomach cancer is “pretty debilitating” in his first interview since revealing his diagnosis earlier this year.

“Im thinking about getting back into fighting shape, I need a little bit of time to just rest up and heal up,” the 61-year-old American singer-songwriter said. “It’s pretty debilitating to have to go through all that, but as long as everything stays hunky-dory, then we’ll look at something good in the future.”

In June, Tricia Lucus’s husband announced he was stepping away from the limelight to undergo cancer treatment.

At the time, Keith confirmed that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall and spent the last six months receiving chemo, radiation and surgery. The “I Love This Bar” singer subsequently cancelled all of his planned shows for the rest of the year.

Toby Keith, in recent months, has reportedly been hinting at a possible return by venturing out publicly more. The “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” hitmaker shocked his avid followers when he performed songs such as “I Love This Bar” and “Sweet Home Alabama” at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse in Lexington, Ky.

Keith also received the BMI Icon Award during the 2022 BMI Awards, where singers like Eric Church and Carrie Underwood sang a tribute to the crooner. Past recipients of the prestigious award include Hank Williams Jr., Loretta Lynn, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.

For starters, Toby Keith has been a longtime advocate for families facing cancer diagnoses and helped found Ally’s House in 2004, a nonprofit group that aids children with cancer and their families in Oklahoma. The said nonprofit was named after Allison Webb, the daughter of Keith’s original band member Scott Webb, who died in 2003 of kidney cancer before her third birthday.

After Ally’s House, Keith established the Toby Keith Foundation in 2006 “to encourage the health and happiness of pediatric cancer patients.” “In 2014, the foundation opened OK Kids Korral, a cost-free, convenient and comfortable home for pediatric cancer patients receiving treatment at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, Stephenson Cancer Center and other nearby facilities,” the foundation’s mission statement read.

Toby Keith, earlier this week, shared a heart-warming photo to Instagram in which he was seen holding a young cancer patient as they both smiled and gave the thumbs-up. “Thumbs up if you’re celebrating #GivingTuesday by donating to the @tkfoundation1! Your donations make the OK Kids Korral possible, a home away from home for children battling cancer and their families,” he wrote in the caption.