Christian artist TobyMac has recalled the artistry of his 21-year-old son, who was found dead in Nashville, Tennessee, this week.
TobyMac praised Truett Foster Mckeehan as a “magnetic son, brother and friend” in a statement released on Oct. 24, a day after McKeehan was found dead in a Nashville home.
A representative for TobyMac said Mckeenhan died sometime “Tuesday night or Wednesday morning” and a cause of death has not been determined.
“We just ask that everyone please be respectful of their privacy during this time and allow them to grieve their loss,” the representative told the Nashville Tennessean.
TobyMac said his son is also an artist and had just played his first show a week ago at a Factory in Franklin in Tennessee, a dream of his since he was 12.
The Grammy-winning rapper said in the statement this was the last time he saw his son in person, as he had to leave the next morning very early to fly and start his tour in Canada.
TobyMac recalled his son’s smile, his laugh and his “untamable grand personality.”
“As I stood in the audience and watched my son bring joy to a room, I was as proud as a ‘pop’ could be,” as his son would have called him, TobyMac wrote on Facebook.
In the post, TobyMac also shared the last text message he had with his son, telling him “amazing” show and “I was very, very, very proud of you.”
In response, McKeehan wrote, “Love you, dad. Thank you so much. You have always believed in me, make me feel like a superhero.”
TobyMac also said his son always had a “soft spot” in his heart for God.
“The Bible moved him,” TobyMac said. “He was by no means a cookie-cutter Christian but give me a believer who fights to keep believing,” he added.
TobyMac said his son “expressed himself through the music he made.”
“And by made I mean, written, recorded, produced, mixed, and designed the art. All of it. A true artist. His first show was a week ago, and it was nothing short of electric. Everyone felt it, everyone knew it,” he wrote.
TobyMac has won seven Grammys, both as a solo artist and as a member of the Christian rap/rock group DC Talk.
Last year, he told The Tennessean that his son left home and was living in Los Angeles.
“To watch him go through that, and watch him get bruised, it’s not easy,” the rapper said. “So that’s one of the ways life has changed. In that song [2018′s ‘Scars’], I just want him to know he’s not alone.”
Tributes
McKeehan’s friends began posting tributes on his personal Instagram page.
“Thanks for all the people that was there to support him and thank u for the people on stage that supported him,” said one person.
Another person said, “Can’t believe this:( sending love to the family.”
Epoch Times reporter Jack Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
