Country music superstar Toby Keith returned to the concert stage for the Fourth of July weekend in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma. The pop-up concerts in the town, which occurred on Friday and Saturday, drew hundreds of fans and were his first concert appearances since he announced in the summer of 2022 that he was fighting a battle with stomach cancer.
The Associated Press reports that a resident of Norman who showed up to the Friday concert, Joanna Hall, said that Keith both did a terrific job with his performance and expressed his gratitude to those who turned out to watch him, saying that he was “very thankful for everybody who showed up.”
Hall added that Keith seemed somewhat surprised by how many people showed up to watch him,
saying,
“He seemed a little taken aback that that many people were there. He was like, ‘This was supposed to be a secret. … This was a bigger secret than what I intended.’”
The concerts in Norman marked a potential turning point in Keith’s cancer battle, as they came shortly after representatives for Keith told Fox News Digital both that Keith is “feeling good” and that they “are anticipating Toby will be on the road again soon.“
Keith announced his cancer battle in the summer of 2022,
saying, “
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“
Keith told The Oklahoman last month that his battle with cancer has gone well so far, with the tumor shrinking in size by a third as his blood tests have looked good. He also said that “basically, everything is in a real positive trend” and “You never know with cancer, so you have to prepare.”
He added that he’s looking forward to getting back to doing concerts and singing, saying that all he needs is for his stamina to build up a bit for he can work a few nights in a row and take a break from chemo, saying, “All I got to 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.“
Though the concerts in Norman were relatively small by his standards, his being able to do two days of concerts in a row could show that his stamina is back up to that point where he is able to perform for his fans and get back to normal in his life, even if he’s still battling stomach cancer. Even if he needs a bit longer to recover, it looks like things are currently on a positive trend line for him and he might finally be able to resume his normal life after being diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2021.
Watch Keith sing his awesome “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue” here:
Featured image credit: By Thomas Powell – Edwards Air Force Base. Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Kelly using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4381597
