the dixie chicks who famously on stage at a show called out president bush and then were effectivelymusic community. i think that there is concern around from her management, certainly, that if she comes out politically and we saw that in the miss americana documentary, that she would just halve her fan base. and yet actually she seems to have kind of transcended those boundaries. you know, taylor herself has endorsed democratic candidates in the past. she's endorsed joe biden and allowed the biden campaign use of one of her songs, only the young, in the last presidential campaign. and yet, despite that, 53% of americans in a survey last year said they would consider themselves a fan of taylor swift. that's my favourite statistic of all of these! what an extraordinary statistic that is. it's incredible, isn't it? i think it's kind of an approval rating that any politician would be absolutely dreaming of. totally. you mentioned miss americana, which is this netflix documentary that was kind of behind the scenes of taylor's political awakening in 2018, when there was a big, important s

white, and blue ♪ >> reporter: feuding with journalists and fellow performers, going after the dixie chickshe chicks, for criticizing then president george w. bush and the iraq war. he was beloved by many military families, and ce for president trump's inauguration before he was a star, keith was an oil worker and a semi-pro football player in his native oklahoma. ♪ i want live me some more ♪ >> reporter: diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2021, keith kept performing at last year's people's choice awards, and then in las vegas in december. ♪ oh i should have been a cowboy ♪ >> reporter: defying the disease. >> this is what i do, and you can't let it define your future >> reporter: catchy and controversial, toby keith's talent and swagger secured his place in country music history. anne thompson, nbc news >> toby keith was 62 >>> that's "nightly news" for this tuesday. thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night this ad? typical. politicians... "he's bad. i'm good." blah, blah. let's shake things up. with katie porter. porter refuse

red white and blue after 9/11, feuding with journalists and fellow performers, going after the dixie chicksush and he formed at president trump's inauguration before he was a star, he was an oil worker and semi-pro football player in his native oklahoma. diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2021, keith kept performing. at last year's people's choice awards and then in las vegas in december ♪ oh, i should have been a cowboy ♪ >> reporter: defying the disease. >> this is what i do, and you can't let it define, you know, your future. >> reporter: controversial, his talent and swagger secured his place in country music history anne thompson, nbc news. >> another who's gone but not even close to being forgotten. rocky legend carl weathers will appear in a fan dual ad during the super bowl broadcast he died on thursday and his appearance had already been filmed an executive with fan duel says there will be some adjustments made following his death he gained prominence with his role in the mapd l"mandalorian." he was 76 when he passed away in his sleep according to his family >>> one man has taken his

there was the controversy surrounding the dixie chicks that he had spoken out publicly against formerresident george w. bush and his policies when it came to fighting the war that he was fighting. toby keith took a position against them. this was one of the early cancellations that we saw. can you talk a little bit about that and how it is remembered? >> i will say that in this town, there is an understanding of patriotism is one of the foundational pieces for a lot of people where their politics lean a little bit right. that is what country music is all about. he was able to put himself behind there all the way and stand up for the people that believed what he believed in and he could understand their beliefs and put them out there against those who stood on the other side as well. he was a 50-50 situation. best regarded for the fact that he was willing to take a stand and take the positive and the negatives of that situation. real quickly, what defines him and what made him toby keith, the one and only. >> he was own man and he marched to the strum of his own guitar. honest to a fau