Is Toby Keith ready to get back out on the road?
Well it definitely sounds that way – and last night the ’90s country legend was back on stage during a surprise appearance at a show in his home state.
Toby’s been largely out of the public eye for the last year and a half after announcing that he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, cancelling his 2022 tour as he underwent chemotherapy.
But recently Toby has been getting back on stage, performing a few surprise pop-up shows at his bar in Oklahoma and also delivering a surprise performance at Tin Roof in Orlando.
In an interview with The Oklahoman, Toby said that he’s hoping to get back to touring:
“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.
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.”
And last month, Toby made his first televised appearance since announcing his cancer diagnosis, accepting the Country Icon Award at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards and also delivering an emotional performance of “Don’t Let The Old Man In,” his 2019 song about coming to terms with growing old.
Before the show, Toby gave fans some good news on his health:
“I’ve walked some dark hallways. The Almighty’s riding shotgun.
But I feel pretty good. You have good days and bad days, but it’s a little bit of a rollercoaster. But I’m doing a lot better than I was this time last year.”
Well with Toby making progress in his recovery, fans were hopeful to see him back out on the road sooner rather than later. And fans at Jason Aldean’s concert in Oklahoma last night were treated to a surprise appearance from the Big Dog Daddy himself.
Toby is of course an Oklahoma native, so it only makes sense that he would join Aldean during his stop at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City during his Highway Desperado tour.
Jason introduced the surprise appearance by Toby to his hometown crowd:
“You come to Oklahoma City, there’s only one guy you kind of think of when you come to Oklahoma City.
So I ran into him the other night. We’re gonna make some noise for the Big Dog Daddy, Toby Keith everybody!”
The crowd lost their minds as Toby took the stage and thanked the crowd for being with him through his health battle:
“I’m on my rehab tour. If I ain’t at my bar I’m down at Hollywood Corners or I’m on stage with Jason Aldean.
But the Almighty’s been riding shotgun and my ass is gettin’ ready to go back to work.”
Love the sound of that.
Toby then played “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” as the excited crowd joined him on every word, no doubt to see their fellow Oklahoman back on stage – something we’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more of very soon.
