Toby Keith was diagnosed with cancer back in 2021 and after a brave fight he passed away a couple of years later but Toby's fight with cancer actually started almost two decades before this all the way back in 2003 it was something that impacted him at a personal level in a very big way so much so that he ended his high-profile Feud with Natalie Mains from the Dixie Chicks because of it the pair fell out when Keith released the track Courtesy of the Red White and Blue in the wake of the September 11th attacks on America Keith was always known to be someone who wore his patriotism on his sleeves something the Dixie Chicks frontwoman Mains wasn't fond of as she branded the celebrated song ignorant sparking a bitter war of words between the two at the 2003 ACM Awards both Keith and the chicks were up for Entertainer of the Year although Keith won the prize Mains took the headlines for wearing a shirt with futk printed on it she claimed it stood for friends United in truth and kindness but obviously we all know what the TK was referring to in the beginning Keith robustly defended his Viewpoint trading barbs with Mains a doctored image of the Dixie Chicks appeared for a while on a backdrop at Keith's concerts that appeared to show them canoodling alongside former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein then a tragedy close to home intervened to reset his priorities Keith realized life is too short for such negativity and decided to move on even calling his own actions embarrassing in a 2003 interview with contact music he said a few days after I found my friend's 2-year-old daughter didn't have long to live because of cancer I saw a picture on the cover of Country Weekly with a picture of me and Natalie and it said fight to the death or something it seemed so insignificant I said enough is enough uh the friend that Toby is referring to is one of his original bandmaid Scott Webb he was Keith's first guitar player in a garage band called easy money that Toby was a part of before he made it big after Toby got a record deal he brought on Scott as a tour manager the two were extremely close unfortunately Scott's daughter Ali Webb lost her battle with cancer just shy of her third birthday the loss of young Aly was difficult for Keith emotionally and through the family's ordeal Keith came to recognize what kinds of resources people need who are living through this physical emotional and financial strain alli's mother Linda has also spoken of how Keith helped them realize their dream of helping other kids in need through Ali's house in 2006 he provided the wherewithal to found Ali's house a nonprofit organization supporting Oklahoma children with cancer it's now in its 20th year and the initiative has helped thousands of families with financial assistance Allie's mother who runs Allie's house had this to say about Toby he watched our daughter go through her fight and he came up with the name Allie's house without Toby there would be no alie's house Keith's generosity inspired donations from others and it caused him to Envision even bigger and better plans for ok kids Corral the Toby Keith Foundation has been helping children with cancer since 2006 and if anyone thinks that the big dog Daddy lost his fight to cancer then you better think again if you like the video then please do hit the like And subscribe buttons for your daily dose of country