The country music world is mourning the loss of Toby Keith the night of February 5th, after his battle with stomach cancer. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by family.
His music touched so many people, and he was influential to so many country artists.
We had a lot of listeners call in, or send Open Mics, telling stories of how Toby Keith touched their lives, and the stories are amazing. Thank you to everyone who called in and shared their stories. We know they are thousands more. Raise a glass in Toby’s memory today, and turn up some Toby Keith.
Toby has always held this special place for me, because he always a song that fit someone’s life. But, for me, “How Do You Like Me Now” always stands out. I was a kid in high school that was always picked on, and made fun of, and everybody thought that I was never gonna get where I was gonna go. and I had the forture of sitting in a bar with Toby in Nashville at one point, and we were talking football, and he said, “I can’t believe this girl from Texas is sitting here talking to me about football right now. This is badass!”
In the back of my mind I’m thinking, “I can’t believe I’m sitting here in this bar talking football with Toby Freaking Keith for God’s sake!”
And I told him, “I have to tell you, your song ’How Do You Like Me Now’ is the song I’m going to play at my high school reunion.’ And he goes, “Why is that?” And I said, “Well, it’s the big F-U to everbody I went to high school with, because they made fun of me, and now they hear me every day and ask me for tickets.”
— Christi Brooks
Toby was the kindest man and always loved a good laugh. He will be missed, greatly.
— Jenny Law
One of his final appearances before his diagnosis was here in San Antonio, at the San Antonio Rodeo on February 10, 2022, for an amazing show.