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Nearly two dozen artists paid tribute to Toby Keith during the Toby Keith: American Icon benefit concert hosted on Monday evening (July 29) at Bridgestone Arena in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The star-studded show will air late next month.
Trace Adkins, Priscilla Block, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jordan Davis, Scotty Emerick, Brantley Gilbert, Riley Green, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard, Jamey Johnson, Krystal Keith, Ella Langley, Mac McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Clay Walker and Lainey Wilson were part of the lineup to honor Keith and his career. Performers covered the Oklahoma-born artist’s career-spanning hits, from his heartfelt ballads to his most energetic anthems.
Underwood, who covered Keith’s 90s single “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action,” said the crowd gathered to honor Keith, “his music, his heart, his life. Everyone on this stage loves Toby.” Toby Keith: American Icon Church’s rendition of “As Good As I Once Was,” Wilson — who entered the arena on a horse — and Johnson teaming up to duet “Beer For My Horses,” Rucker’s cover of “God Love Her,” and more. Between performances, video footage played of Keith’s final recorded vocal, his rendition of Joe Diffie’s “Ships That Don’t Come In” on HARDY’s DIFFTAPE project. The event supported The Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt with a portion of the proceeds, per a previously-issued press release.
Keith “passed peacefully…surrounded by his family,” on February 5 following a years-long battle with stomach cancer. He was 62. Keith is survived by his wife, Tricia Lucus, and three children: Shelley Covel Rowland, Krystal Keith and Stelen Keith Covel.
Toby Keith: American Icon will air as a two-hour television special on NBC on Wednesday, August 28 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET.