![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Toby-Keith-300x150.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sad news in the entertainment world yesterday. Country music superstar Toby Keith has died at the age of 62 after suffering the past couple years with stomach cancer. The older I get, the more tragically young a 62 year-old’s death seems. Funny how that works.<\/p>\n
Normally we only highlight the deaths of celebrities when they’re veterans. While Keith never enlisted, I know he inspired many to. He was a big supporter of the US military and did several USO tours (11 of them across 15 countries, three ships, and more than a decade).<\/p>\n
I was one of those young people to enlist right after 9\/11. When I was going through basic training in 2002, one of Keith’s greatest songs\u00a0Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)\u00a0<\/em>had become quite popular. I succeeded in making the cross-over to the popular music category, where it peaked at 25 on the Hot 100, a rare achievement for a country song.<\/p>\n I’ll never forget the deafening roar that filled the base chapel when they played the video for that song to inspire a few thousand young airmen. Years later, I’d still listen to that song, and his followup American Soldier<\/em> on my early morning drive to the base for a drill weekend.<\/p>\n Godspeed, Toby. We’ll miss you, but your legacy will carry on. It’s hard to imagine going out to any bar or wedding without hearing at least one of his greatest hits like Beer for my Horses, I Love This Bar, or I Wanna Talk About Me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"