Toby Keith is battling cancer and receiving treatment for the last six months, the country singer revealed Sunday. The 60-year-old shared the news on Twitter.

“Last fall I was diagnosed with stomach cancer,” he wrote, “I’ve spent the last 6 months receiving chemo, radiation, and surgery. So far, so good. I need time to breathe, recover and relax. I am looking forward to spending this time with my family, but I will see the fans sooner than later. I can’t wait.”

Keith, who was born in Clinton, Oklahoma, to Carolyn Joan and Hubert K. Covel, Jr., graduated from Moore High School and worked as a derrick hand in the oil fields.

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When he was 20 years old, Keith and his friends Scott Webb, Keith Cory, David “Yogi” Vowell and Danny Smith, with a few others, formed the Easy Money Band, which played at local bars.

Keith released his first four studio albums—1993’s Toby Keith, 1994’s Boomtown, 1996’s Blue Moon and 1997’s Dream Walkin’, plus a Greatest Hits package—for various divisions of Mercury Records before leaving Mercury in 1998.

Keith released his breakthrough single “How Do You Like Me Now?!” in late 1999 after being signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville. The song, the title track to his 1999 album of the same name, was the number one country song of 2000.

His next three albums, Pull My Chain, Unleashed, and Shock’n Y’all, produced three more number ones each.

DreamWorks closed in 2005 following which Keith founded the label Show Dog Nashville, which merged with Universal South Records to become Show Dog-Universal Music in December 2009.

He has released ten studio albums through Show Dog/Show Dog-Universal: 2006’s White Trash with Money, 2007’s Big Dog Daddy, 2008’s That Don’t Make Me a Bad Guy, 2009’s American Ride, 2010’s Bullets in the Gun, 2011’s Clancy’s Tavern, 2012’s Hope on the Rocks, 2013’s Drinks After Work, 2015’s 35 MPH Town, 2017’s The Bus Songs, and 2021’s Peso in My Pocket, as well as the compilation 35 Biggest Hits in 2008.

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Keith also made his acting debut in 2006, starring in the film Broken Bridges, and co-starred with comedian Rodney Carrington in the 2008 film Beer for My Horses, inspired by his song of the same name.

Keith has released 19 studio albums, 2 Christmas albums, and 5 compilation albums. All of the albums totaled worldwide sales of over 40 million.

Keith married Tricia Lucus on March 24, 1984. He is the father of three children—two daughters, Shelley Covel Rowland (born 1980, adopted by Keith in 1984) and Krystal “Krystal Keith” LaDawn Covel Sandubrae (born September 30, 1985; signed a contract with Show Dog-Universal in 2013), and one son (Stelen Keith Covel, born 1997). He also has four grandchildren.