Nation singer Toby Keith died Monday after a battle with abdomen most cancers. Keith, 62, had 20 Billboard No. 1’s, together with his first hit, “Ought to’ve Been a Cowboy,” probably the most performed nation track of the Nineties, and patriotic anthem “Courtesy of the Pink, White and Blue.”
He additionally was a significant philanthropist, usually touring abroad to play concert events for U.S. troops and elevating cash for pediatric most cancers by way of his Toby Keith Basis, which funded the OK Youngsters Korral, a 12-suite dwelling for households whose children are present process most cancers remedies in Oklahoma Metropolis.
Certainly one of Keith’s massive autos for his charity was golf.
Keith, a frequent competitor on the superstar circuit through the years, co-owned Belmar Golf Membership in Norman, Oklahoma, web site of his annual Toby Keith and Mates Golf Traditional, which was performed for the 19th time final 12 months. He additionally hosted a ladies’s school golf event at Belmar, the Schooner Fall Traditional.
Baylor head ladies’s golf coach Jay Goble, whose Bears gained the Schooner in 2020, remembers the “superb events” that Keith and his spouse, Tricia, would host for groups at their dwelling in Moore, Oklahoma.
“You can not discover an individual at that social gathering having fun with themselves greater than Toby was, and I’ll always remember that,” Goble stated. “He was taking part in video games with the individuals, singing karaoke with them and simply total having a good time with all people he got here in touch with.”
Even whereas he was battling most cancers, Keith was readily available for final fall’s Schooner trophy presentation, the place he handed Wake Forest considered one of his signed guitars.
Keith additionally cherished the College of Oklahoma, particularly Sooner sports activities. After the Oklahoma males’s golf group gained the 2017 NCAA Championship, Keith joined them again dwelling for the massive celebration.
Following Keith’s demise, Oklahoma Athletics launched this assertion: “The OU Athletics household is extremely saddened by the passing of our expensive good friend Toby Keith. It’s a profoundly unhappy actuality to exist in a world the place Toby doesn’t. He introduced life and pleasure to each room he entered, and our hearts are dimmer at the moment with out him. An American icon and a stalwart Sooner. A famous person expertise and a fierce good friend of our program. We thank him for the unwavering assist he at all times gave, his generosity as a human being and the numerous smiles and reminiscences he created right here in Oklahoma and all over the world.”
Keith labored within the oil fields as a child and later performed semi-pro soccer earlier than getting his massive music break and releasing his first report, “Toby Keith,” in 1993. Although he had many larger hits, golfers could also be a fan of his tune, “S—ty Golfer.”
I’m a s—ty golfer, you possibly can ask my spouse.
I’ve been on the market hacking day-after-day of my life.
I received the shorts and all of the plaid sweaters.
And new TaylorMade driver didn’t make me any higher.
Keith’s household stated he died “peacefully … surrounded by his household, and added, “He fought his combat with grace and braveness.”
