Toby Keith was an avid University of Oklahoma fan, which makes his upcoming accolade bittersweet. The “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” singer, who passed away from stomach cancer on February 5, learned last year that he was going to receive an honorary degree at their 2024 commencement.

Keith’s daughter, Krystal Keith, will accept the honor on his behalf on Saturday, May 11.

“He loved OU!” Krystal says of her father. “His passion started as far back as when he was 12 and 13 years old and worked in the stadium selling cokes just so he could see the games. For as long as I can remember, he took us to every bowl game no matter what his work schedule was. And he was on the sidelines of nearly all the different OU sporting events. He bled Crimson and Cream.”

Krystal spoke about her beloved father on social media, after news of his passing was announced.

“I am so lucky to have had him and so grateful he got to walk me down the aisle and meet my babies,” Krystal wrote. “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.”

 

Krystal also shared her thoughts on the grief that reverberated around the country and beyond when her father succumbed to an illness he valiantly fought for more than two years.

“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,” Krystal said. “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,” she concluded. “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. 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.”

The honorary degree isn’t the only recognition Keith is receiving posthumously. The singer-songwriter will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this fall. Keith would have received the news on February 6, one day after he passed away.

“This year, we anticipated receiving the names of our final inductees, on Tuesday, February 6,” Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association, explained. “As we know, we woke up that morning to the heartbreaking news that our friend, Toby Keith, had lost his long battle with stomach cancer. What’s bittersweet is that just a few hours later, our team received word that he had been elected into the Modern Era category. Truly one of the greatest honors of my job is getting to inform these inductees that they are the newest members of the hallowed class.

“My heart sank that Tuesday afternoon, knowing that we missed the chance to inform Toby while he was still with us,” she added. “But I have no doubt that he’s smiling down on us, knowing that he’ll always be as good as he once was.”

Keith’s son, Stelen, spoke on his father’s behalf when the inductees were announced.

“On behalf of my whole family, we want to thank the Hall of Fame,” he said. “It’s an honor to stand here and represent my father. He was an amazing man, husband, father and artist. I just want to thank everybody for being here.”

Keith will be inducted along with John Anderson, and guitarist James Burton. An induction date has yet to be announced.