Toby Keith speaks out about cancer battle: ‘I lean on my faith’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJW) – Country star Toby Keith says he’s been leaning on his faith after being diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2021.

The “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” singer spoke with reporters on Thursday before the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards in Nashville, where he told Fox News that he’s doing “all right” amid his cancer battle.

“I lean on my faith and I just pray and lean into it,” Keith told the outlet. “It was my rock.”

Keith went on to tell E! News that the journey has been “a roller coaster.”

“You get good days and, you know, you’re up and down. … It’s always zero to 60 and 60 to zero, but I feel good today,” he said.

The 62-year-old country singer went on to win the Country Icon Award during the ceremony.

Keith announced his cancer diagnosis on social media in June 2022, saying at the time that he had already spent six months undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

Keith made his first return to the stage in Oklahoma over the Fourth of July weekend. The month before, he told The Oklahoman that his tumor had shrunk by a third and blood test results were looking good.