Toby Keith's planning private funeral and a memorial service

Toby Keith’s planning private funeral and a memorial service

Toby Keith’s family will remember him at a private funeral later this month.

The country music star died on February 5 at the age of 62 following a battle with stomach cancer and now his loved ones have confirmed his funeral will take place in mid-February and will be attended by close friends, relatives and bandmates only – but a more open memorial service is being planned for later in the year.

They said in a statement: “The Covel Family is hosting a private funeral service for family, band and crew only in mid-February. A memorial service to honour Toby will be announced only on Keith’s socials shortly.”

The statement went on to ask fans not to send flowers, but to give donations to The Toby Keith Foundation instead to help kids battling cancer and their families.

It added: “In lieu of flowers, the family appreciates donations to @tkfoundation1 to support the [respite centre] OK Kids Korral.”

Toby was diagnosed with stomach cancer in autumn 2021 and spent more than two years battling the disease prior to his death.

HIs passing was announced in a statement from his family which read: “Toby Keith passed peacefully last night on February 5th, surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time,’ the message read, giving no further details.”

The ‘Should’ve Been a Cowboy’ hitmaker is survived by his wife Tricia Lucus – who he had been married to since 1984 – and their children Shelley, 44, Krystal, 38, and 27-year-old son Stelen. The singer had planned to step away from music to focus on undergoing surgery as well as rounds of chemo and radiation therapy but made a triumphant return to the stage last July, where he played two shows in his home state of Oklahoma over the Independence Day weekend.

Just months after his diagnosis, Toby admitted the cancer had been “pretty debilitating” but was still hopeful for the future.

Speaking on ‘CMT Hot 20’, he said: “I’m thinking about getting back into fighting shape. It’s pretty debilitating to have to go through all that, but as long as everything stays hunky-dory, then we’ll look at something good in the future I need a little bit of time to just rest up and heal up.”