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The video of Toby Keith’s final vocal recording premiered as a studio music video on Thursday (August 29).
Keith delivered a rendition of “Ships That Don’t Come In” during his final recording session. He “passed peacefully” in early February following a battle with stomach cancer. He was 62. The track appeared on HARDY’s latest HIXTAPE installment, DIFFTAPE, which served as a tribute to late country star Joe Diffie. Luke Combs also performs on the DIFFTAPE track, and spoke about that experience in a press release issued Thursday to announce the “special, once-in-a-lifetime moment caught on tape.” The “Ships That Don’t Come In” studio video features behind-the-scenes glimpses of Keith’s final recording session. It arrives about five months after HIXTAPE Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE released.
“To be on a song with Toby was a no-brainer when it got presented to me. That was something I had always hoped to do but never knew if it would happen or not,” Combs said in the release. “It being one of Joe's songs, especially this one, made it even better; he was there the night I got inducted into the Opry and actually gave me my Opry member award. I grew up listening to both of those guys' music, so to be a part of this version of the song and it now be Toby's last recording is kind of hard to put into words. Country music misses them greatly, but I hope we're doing justice to continue what they started.”
Never-before-seen footage of Keith’s final vocal recording played for a massive audience at Bridgestone Arena in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee, where a crowd gathered for the Toby Keith: American Icon tribute show. The star-studded lineup included 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. The event took place in late July, and 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. The show aired on Wednesday evening (August 28).
Watch the “Ships That Don’t Come In” studio video featuring Diffie, Keith and Combs here: