US country music star Toby Keith dies at 62 after cancer battle

Country music star Toby Keith, celebrated in Middle America for his patriotic fervor, has passed away aged 62, a statement on his social media account said.

"Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on February 5th surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage," a statement posted to Keith's account on X, formerly Twitter, stated on Tuesday.

The Oklahoma-born singer, who was a roughneck in the oil fields of his home state, had been diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2022.

The 6-foot-4 singer broke out in the country boom years of the 1990s, writing songs that fans loved to hear.

Over his career, he publicly clashed with other celebrities and journalists and often pushed back against record executives who wanted to smooth his rough edges.

He was known for his overt patriotism on post-9/11 songs like “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue,” and boisterous barroom tunes like “I Love This Bar” and “Red Solo Cup.”

He had a powerful booming voice, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour, and a range that carried love songs as well as drinking songs.

'Cancer is a roller coaster'

Keith was a controversial figure who often raised eyebrows for the intensity of his nationalist sentiments, with detractors calling him jingoistic.

Among his 20 No. 1 Billboard hits were “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “My List” and “Beer for My Horses,” a duet with Willie Nelson.

His influences were other working-class songwriters like Merle Haggard who tallied more than 60 singles on the Hot Country chart over his career.

Keith was the most famous performer at former US president Donald Trump's inauguration in 2017, though he also played at events for Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.

Later in 2017, he played a male-only concert in Saudi Arabia to mark a Trump visit there — an unlikely venue for a star more often seen packing arenas in the US heartland.

Throughout the cancer treatments, Keith continued to perform, most recently playing in Las Vegas in December. He also performed on the People’s Choice Country Awards in 2023 as he sang his song “Don't Let the Old Man In.”

“Cancer is a roller coaster,” he told KWTV during an interview aired last month. “You just sit here and wait on it to go away. It might never go away.”