Toby Keith’s daughter accepts his posthumous honorary degree

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — The late country music artist Toby Keith was honored over the weekend during commencement at the University of Oklahoma.

Keith, who died of stomach cancer at the age of 62 in February, had learned prior to his passing that he would be receiving an honorary doctorate, which was accepted by his daughter, Krystal Keith, according a post on his Instagram account.

“Toby learned he would be receiving an honorary degree from @uofoklahoma last fall, and yesterday, @krystalkeith accepted it on his behalf at the commencement ceremony,” a caption on photos showing Keith’s adult daughter at the graduation ceremony reads. “Congratulations to all of the OU graduates!”

It was announced in April that the university would be honoring the “singer, songwriter, entertainer and successful businessman whose illustrious music career included more than 10 billion streams and 44 million albums sold and whose generosity enhanced the university and state of Oklahoma for decades.”

Keith went public with his stomach cancer diagnosis in 2022, which he had been dealing with since October 2021.

In addition to his music career, Keith was also a well known philanthropist who served as president of the Toby Keith Foundation.

He and his wife of almost 40 years, Tricia Lucas, shared three children her daughters, Shelley and Krystal, and son, Stelen.

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