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Toby Keith’s daughter, singer-songwriter Krystal Keith, wrote that she’s “shattered” by her father’s loss as she posted a heartfelt tribute in his honor on Friday morning (February 9). The legendary country star died on Monday night (February 5) after a battle with stomach cancer in the final years of his life. He was 62.
A statement posted to the “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” artist’s social media pages in the early morning hours on Tuesday (February 6) confirmed that Keith “passed peacefully…surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time.” The post prompted an outpouring of tributes as fans and the country music community mourned Keith’s loss. The Oklahoma-born legend is survived by wife Tricia Lucus, Krystal and daughter Shelley Covel Rowland and son Stelen Keith Covel, who shared a tribute of his own on Thursday evening (February 8).
“I am shattered. As great as he was in his career, he was so much greater as a dad and a husband and a Pop Pop. He was my hero,” Krystal said as she posed a series of photos of her father and family on Instagram on Friday. “I am so lucky to have had him and so grateful he got to walk me down the aisle and meet my babies. That I have years of memories traveling the world as a family. I am blessed that I got to spend years traveling on the road and singing on stage with him. That I have mountains of video footage and endless tracks of music to watch him on and hear his voice with. I’m lucky I got to say goodbye and tell him what he meant to me.
“There has been an (immense) outpouring of love and segments remembering him that someday I hope to be able to watch and enjoy once I’m able,” she continued. “This amount of people and networks honoring him is a reminder that he wasn’t just ours. He was the world’s. He is the gift that we were, as a family, able to offer the world and he did not squander our sacrifice of time with him. He lived a hundred lives of accomplishments and impact in peoples lives. There is so much he did for people that no one knew about, even us. He didn’t want recognition for doing good deeds, he just did them because his heart led him to or someone needed him to.
“I will forever honor him. The pain is so unbelievably deep and it feels like I have a literal broken heart but I know that it wouldn’t hurt so bad if we didn’t love him and get to be loved so deeply by him. He never made me wonder if he would be there for me,” Krystal wrote. “He made sure to live with Jesus so he could go with Jesus. Jesus taking him home is the cherry on top of the life we got to live with him.
“Love YOU more dad. XO”