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Toby Keith delivered an update on his health after revealing last year that he’d been diagnosed with stomach cancer.
The country music giant, 61, spoke with The Oklahoman earlier this month. Keith, an Oklahoma native, hosted his annual hometown fundraiser, the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic. He told the Oklahoma-based news outlet, which is part of the USA Today network, that he’s “feeling pretty good” amid the cancer battle, and that “everything is in a real positive trend.”
Keith also expressed interest in touring again when he has the energy and strength to perform a show. He hopes that can happen by the end of this year. Keith, who is still undergoing chemotherapy and said his tumor has shrunk by about a third, said in the interview: “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.”
Keith revealed his stomach diagnosis in a statement in June 2022, indicating that he’d been diagnosed in the fall of 2021. he wrote in the statement at that time: “Last fall I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I’ve spent the last 6 months receiving chemo, radiation and surgery. So far, so good. I need time to breathe, recover and relax. I am looking forward to spending this time with my family. But I will see the fans sooner than later. I can’t wait. -T.”
Shortly after making that announcement, Keith posted a heartfelt message to his fans as he thanked them “for all your love and support,” after he publicly shared that he was battling cancer. “I have the best fans in the world.”
Photos shared on Keith’s Instagram account this week show that the country star’s annual golf tournament raised “a record-breaking 1.8 million dollars” for The Toby Keith Foundation, which aims “to encourage the health and happiness of pediatric cancer patients and to support OK Kids Korral.”