Toby Keith‘s long-awaited return to the concert stage is happening later this year. The 62-year-old, who took time away after he revealed he was battling stomach cancer in 2022, announces two back-to-back shows, at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas, on December 10 and 11.
“Y’all been waiting a long time to hear this,” Keith says, “I’ve been waiting a long time to do this. I’m back, come see me. You’ll have the best time, I will too. We’ll never forget it. Can’t wait to see you there. Let’s go,”
Keith also announced the new shows in a video posted on YouTube.
“You know what I’ve been doing,” Keith shares. “I’ve been on the ol’ roller coaster. But Almighty’s riding shotgun. He’s letting me drive. I’m making a big announcement. I’m doing a little deal — I thought I’d start in the great Las Vegas … I was going to sit around here and do nothing like I have been, or get up and go outside and ‘Don’t Let The Old Man In.”
Keith, who encourages fans to attend the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas ahead of his concerts, calls his Vegas performances “rehab shows.”
“Get the band back in sync, get me rolling again,” Keith explains. “It’s the first time in my whole life I’ve been off over two years. I’ve never been off a year in my life. Through COVID, cancer, the devil’s been after me a little bit. I’ve got him by the horns right now. So instead of just sitting around and waiting, we’re gonna get the band back together.”
Keith performed his single, “Don’t Let The Old Man In” at the recent 2023 People’s Choice Country Awards, where he was also awarded the Country Icon Award, presented to him by Blake Shelton.
“I feel pretty good,” Keith told E! News, ahead of his performance. “It’s a little bit of a roller coaster. You get good days and, you know, you’re up and down, up and down. It’s always zero to 60 and 60 to zero but I feel good today.”
“Don’t Let The Old Man In” stayed in the No. 1 spot on iTunes for two weeks following his performance, with the live version now released to radio.
The Oklahoma native previously said he hoped to resume touring later this year, after going through treatment for his cancer.
“I feel better; I’ve got more wind. And I’m thinking about bringing the band in and setting up, playing two or three days somewhere just to see if I can get through two hours,” Keith told The Oklahoman earlier this year (via Music Mayhem). “And if I do, [I’ll] be out on the road this fall.”
It was Keith’s strong faith that got him through the scary diagnosis, and the grueling treatment to restore his health.
“I lean on my faith and I just pray and lean into it,” Keith recently told Fox News. “You gotta’ do what you gotta do, and I don’t know how people do it without faith … that’s what I did. It was my rock.”
Tickets for Keith’s Las Vegas shows will be available beginning on October 27. His 13-track 100% Songwriter album will be out on November 3, featuring some of his biggest hits throughout his three-decade career, all songs written entirely by Keith
Find all of Keith’s music and touring updates at TobyKeith.com
Read ‘Toby Keith: 11 Things To Know About the Patriotic Singer’ here.