The country singer’s gigs in Oklahoma were his first since revealing his cancer diagnosis in June 2022.

For the first time since learning he had stomach cancer last summer over the long weekend, Toby Keith happily played on stage. He put on two surprise performances.

On June 30 and July 1 at Hollywood Corners, the bar and music venue he owns in Norman, Oklahoma, the 61-year-old country singer performed two 2.5-hour sets.

He wrote on his Instagram page on July 1 that “Toby’s first rehearsal turned into a 212-hour pop-up show.” He performed all of the singles as well as the Bus Songs.

The following evening, Keith posted again, this time with more images of himself laughing and playing the guitar with longtime friend and business partner Scotty Emerick.

In June 2022, Keith revealed that he had received a stomach cancer diagnosis the previous fall and that he was having chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery. It was his first series of performances following that declaration.

The “I Love This Bar” singer gave The Oklahoman an update on his health last month. Assuming he could maintain his strength, he declared himself to be “feeling pretty good” and claimed he intended to start touring again before the end of the year.

“In general, everything is going pretty well. He advocated being ready because you never know with cancer. I have more wind. I’m considering setting up shop with the band and playing somewhere for two or three days to see if I can make it through two hours.

When I’ve worked two or three nights and taken a short break from this treatment, we’ll pick up where we left off, he said.

Keith, who continues to get chemotherapy, reports that his blood work is doing better and that his tumor has shrunk by about a third. He also disclosed that he saw a dietitian and was undergoing immunotherapy.

When his health improved, the musician had shown interest in doing shows again, but as he told CMT in December, he needed “a little bit of time to just rest up and heal up” first.