Toby Keith Announces Return To The Stage After Cancer Bout

Toby Keith took to Instagram this morning (10/20) to reveal that he will play two shows in Las Vegas in December. It will be the first shows since his bout with stomach cancer.

In a video clip posted to Instagram, Toby said, "Hi everybody, this is Toby Keith. It's been a while. You know what I've been doing, been on the old roller coaster, but Almighty is riding shotgun. He's letting me drive for some reason. I'm making a big announcement. I'm doing a little deal, and I would start with Great Las Vegas at the MGM at Dolby Live at the park at MGM on December 10 and 11; you can do the National Finals Rodeo and the show if you want to. I was gonna sit around here and do nothing like I have been or get up and go outside and not let the old man in, you know what I mean?"

He continued, "They will be my first two shows; they're kind of rehab shows, get the band back in sync, get me rolling again. It's the first time in my whole life I've been off for over two years. I've never been off a year in my life. I'm through COVID and cancer. The old devil has been after me a little bit, but I have him by the horns right now. So instead of just sitting around and waiting, we're gonna get the band back together, so come on out, hang out at the rodeo, and watch the show. We're gonna have a blast. Get it all going again, big dog daddy style. Should have been a cowboy; go to the rodeo. See ya."

Toby's team captioned the video clip. "Toby is back, and you can catch him LIVE in LAS VEGAS for two nights only - December 10 & 11, 2023 at Dolby Live at Park MGM! Tickets go on sale Friday, October 27th at 10 am PT at tobykeith.com."

Keith was presented with the "Country Icon Award" at the inaugural People's Choice Country Awards, which took place last month (9/28) at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House. Blake Shelton presented Keith with the honor.

Early in his career, almost 20 years ago, Blake toured and opened shows for Toby Keith nationwide. At the time, he told me, "Toby is one of those guys that is so famous and so big, and he is one of those artists that's just worldwide. You don't have to be a country music fan to be a Toby Keith fan. It's just way bigger than that. I step on stage with over 20 thousand people per night, and 15,000 of them may or may not have ever heard of me. Touring with Toby has probably been the biggest break I've had since I started doing this."

Country music now has four award shows with the addition of tonight's (9/28) People's Choice Country Awards. Like the CMT Music Awards, this award show is completely based on fan votes.

The red- carpet is always fun, and a chance for country stars and newcomers to show off their style. Newcomer MaRynn Taylor told me earlier this week that she can't wait to walk the red carpet. She's looking forward to seeing who she bumps into and meets for the first time in the country music community. She also walked red carpets at the CMT Music Awards and the ACM Awards in May. Tonight (9/2*) MaRynn wore a sleek black dress and shined with her excitement and never ending big smile.

Over the years, red carpet looks in country music have had some real moments, and even the guys get into the fashion action now and then. Tim McGraw and his wife Faith Hill walked the recent ACM Honors in Nashville along with two of their daughters, and their black and white matching family outfits made many publication's top stories the next day.

Big stars tend to walk the red carpet in the last ten minutes before the show gets underway, and at each show, fans and media alike can't wait to see what Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini and her beau Chase Stokes, and Blake's wife, Gwen Stefani, will be wearing. Let's be honest: we love Blake, but until he met Gwen, he didn't wear anything but flannel shirts and the color blue. While he dresses better with Stefani by his side, he keeps it simple with a jacket, jeans, and boots.

As we get to once again celebrate country music tonight, we look at some of the red-carpet looks from the first People's Choice Country Awards.