Toby Keith Has Died, Leaving Behind A Wife & 3 Children

Country star Toby Keith has sadly passed away. The 62-year-old Grammy award-winning singer was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2021, and his family announced in a statement on Monday that he had “passed away peacefully” after his battle. He will be greatly missed by his fans all over the world, but of course his family will be missing him most of all.

Fought with “grace and courage.”

Keith’s family took to Twitter on Feb. 6 to share the sad news that the country singer had died with his loved ones by his side. “Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on Feb. 5 surrounded by his family,” the statement read. “He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time.” Keith spoke to E! News about his cancer diagnosis in September 2023 after receiving the Country Icon Award at the People’s Choice Country Awards, saying that he felt “pretty good” at the time, “I feel pretty good. It's a little bit of a roller coaster. You get good days and, you know, you're up and down, up and gown. It's always zero to 60 and 60 to zero but I feel good today.”

He has been married to Tricia Lucus since 1984.

Keith first met his future wife Tricia Lucus at a bar when he was working on an oil rig. She was a secretary working for an oil company, and the two hit it off immediately. “I was 19 and he was 20,” Lucus told People in 2001. “He was just one of those larger-than-life guys, full of confidence.” They went on to date for three years before getting married in 1984.

He adopted Lucus’s daughter Shelley when they married.

When the couple married, Keith adopted Lucus’ daughter Shelley, who was born in 1980. Now 43 years old, Shelley Covel Rowland does not share much about her private life on social media or anywhere else, but she does occasionally join her family for red carpet events.

Krystal Keith is 38 and a singer like her dad.

Toby Keith and Tricia Lucus’ oldest daughter Krystal went into the family business of singing. In fact, she joined her dad onstage at the CMA Awards in 2004 to sing his hit song from that year “Mockingbird” and knocked it out of the park. “Growing up in and around the industry, I had a love for music and just knew that someday, this is what I would pursue,” Krystal Keith told iHeart Country in 2018. In recent years, Krystal has taken a break from singing to focus on being a married mom of two little girls, and her dad could not have been prouder of her. “She’s raising beautiful babies. I mean, she’s a mother,” Toby Keith said in a 2017 video shared by Taste of Country. “She loves to sing, but she loves being a mother and she’s so busy with those kids. They are constantly doing something … But I heard her sing at an event. She’s still got the pipes.”

Stelen Keith Covel is 27 years old.

The couple welcomed their youngest child and only son, Stelen Keith Covel, in 1997. Now 27 years old, Stelan is a married real estate investor and owns several businesses. His parents are frequently featured on his Instagram account, showing their support for their son’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Above all things, Toby Keith was proud of his family. “Everybody in the family is good,” he told People in 2010. “I was raised by good parents and I have great kids. They don’t have any issues at all — none.”

How fortunate to be surrounded by that much love at the end of his life.