Remembering Toby Keith And What He Did For Two Louisiana Service Men

We are sad to have to report that country music icon Toby Keith died at 62. Toby Keith has been fighting stomach cancer for the past 18 months and lost that battle last night.

A statement was made on his official Facebook page which said,

Other news outlets like NBC, Fox News, and others also confirm and report the news. The reports say that Keith died in his sleep on February 5, 2024, at the age of 62.

Toby Keith hit the country music scene in 1993 after he left his home state of Oklahoma for Nashville in pursuit of a country music career. During his career, he released 69 singles with #20 of them going to #1 on the country music charts.

Some of his biggest hits include Should Have Been A Cowboy, He Ain't Worth Missing, A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action, Wish I Didn't Know Now, Who's That Man, Who's Your Daddy, I Love This Bar, Beer For My Horses, American Solider and so many more.

Speaking of American Soldiers, we all know how Toby felt about our service Men and Women and his music reflected it with songs like were mentioned above like American Soldiers and Courtesy Of The Red White, And Blue.

I saw this firsthand one night when we had the opportunity to meet and interview Toby Keith in Vinton, Louisiana. Let me set the scene for you. We went to Delta Downs Racetrack in Vinton Louisiana to broadcast live for the Delta Jackpot Thoroughbred horse races and found out that Toby Keith would be there because he owned a horse that would be in the big race.

We were granted access to his private suite and had a chance to meet with him, interview him for the station, and take pictures with him. After our interview, we thanked him, and instead of saying thanks and bye, he started asking me what I like to do in my downtime. I replied I like hanging out at my camp on the river with a fire and listening to music like yours.

Then I told him that I had a couple of buddies with me that night who came to see the races. I told Toby that both of them had served in the Marines. My two buddies were in another part of the racing venue. When Toby found that out, he said where are they? I told him they were waiting for me to finish my interview with you and I was going to go meet them.

He said please take me to them. So we left the comfort and security of his suite as he followed me through a crowded restaurant to meet my two buddies. Toby walked up to them, introduced himself to them, and thanked them for their service. He also told them it would be his honor to take pictures with them which he did and then signed their passes for them.

He thanked me for letting him meet my buddies and we said our goodbyes and he headed back to his suite. Toby Keith was off and enjoying private time so he didn't have to do any of that but he went out of his way to meet them.

I just thought that was the greatest thing and ever since I have been the biggest Toby Keith fan. Today I am sad to find out about his passing. Rest easy Toby, we salute you for being a great human being.