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Never-before-seen footage of Toby Keith’s final recording session played for a massive audience at Bridgestone Arena in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It happened during the Toby Keith: American Icon tribute show in honor of the late country star.
Keith delivered a moving cover of “Ships That Don’t Come In,” which appeared on HARDY’s latest HIXTAPE installment. HARDY teamed up with more than two dozen artists to honor late legend Joe Diffie on the 17-track album, HIXTAPE Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE. Diffie died in March 2020. He was 61. A previously-issued press release confirms the DIFFTAPE track offered “Keith's final recorded vocal before his passing in February.”
Keith “passed peacefully…surrounded by his family,” per a statement shared to his social media pages earlier this year, following a battle with stomach cancer. He was 62. He’s survived by his wife, Tricia Lucus, and three children, Shelley Covel Rowland, Krystal Keith and Stelen Keith Covel.
Krystal wore her father’s custom-made hat when she delivered a moving rendition of her father’s song, “Don’t Let The Old Man In,” during the Toby Keith: American Icon show. The full 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 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. Toby Keith: American Icon aired as a two-hour special on Wednesday (August 28).