Toby Keith Hopes to Get Back to Touring After Battling Stomach Cancer: “I’m Ready”

In 2022, Toby Keith revealed he had been privately battling stomach cancer. The country star has been continually giving updates on his recovery. The latest update sees Keith hopeful he might return to the road soon.

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During an interview with The Oklahoman amid his annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Tournament, he told the outlet he was feeling “pretty good.”

“Basically, everything is in a real positive trend,” he explained. “You never know with cancer, so you have to prepare.”

He then went into the “debilitating” chemotherapy process. The singer had been receiving treatment for six months when he announced his cancer diagnosis. “I expect next time I look for that tumor to be even less,” he said. “And I’ve only got one that’s shown up.”

Keith then revealed that he might gear up for a tour run in the future.

“I’ve got more wind 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,” he said. “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. I’m ready. That’s living.”

Keith gave a similarly positive update a few months ago to CMT Hot 20 Countdown.

“I’m thinkin’ about getting back in fighting shape,” he said. “I need a little bit of time to rest up, heal up… 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.”

He did hint at a run of dates back then as well saying, “I will see the fans sooner than later.”

While we wait on the singer to return to the live scene, we have his latest EP to latch onto. Keith released a six-song project titled America last month. The EP was made up of patriotic staples like “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American),” “American Soldier,” “I Love This Bar,” and more. 

Photo by Richard McLaren / Shock Ink

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