Toby Keith's Wife Speaks For The First Time At Late Husband's HoF Induction

Toby Keith’s wife, Tricia Covel, delivered an emotional tribute to her late husband when he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Keith was one of three inductees — along with John Anderson and James Burton — honored during the Medallion Ceremony in the museum’s CMA Theater on Sunday evening (October 20) in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

Earlier this year, Keith “passed peacefully…surrounded by family,” following a battle with stomach cancer. He was 62. Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer, previously noted that Keith was elected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame before his death, though the results had not been confirmed until hours after news broke of the country legend’s passing on the morning of February 6. Keith was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with star-studded tributes — including performances by Post Malone (“I’m Just Talkin’ About Tonight”), Eric Church (“Don’t Let the Old Man In”) and Blake Shelton (“I Love This Bar” and “Red Solo Cup”) — and remarks from Alabama’s Randy Owen.

Covel, who was married to Keith for nearly four decades at the time of his passing, noted that the ceremony “is actually the first time I’ve been able to talk,” when she took the podium to share remarks as Keith was inducted into the Hall of Fame. She admitted she was “not sure if I can finish it [the speech],” though she went on to deliver a powerful message that ended with a standing ovation from the audience. Son Stelen Keith Covel joined her on stage throughout the remarks. Keith is also survived by daughters Shelley Covel Rowland and Krystal Keith, in addition to his grandchildren.

“I wish Toby was here to be able to do it. It was something he was always looking forward to,” Covel said as she thanked Owen for honoring Keith, and congratulated Anderson and Burton on their inductions. “He did anything he wanted to do. As soon as he set his mind to it, he really worked hard. And once he made his mind up, he pretty much did anything he wanted to do.”

Covel said songwriting was her late husband’s passion, even noting that Keith’s music was “so compelling that people knew a man was living those words.” She noted Keith’s final televised performance at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards last year on the historic Grand Ole Opry stage. Though Keith wrote the song for Clint Eastwood’s 2018 film, The Mule, that night, the song “embodied Toby.” Covel reflected on her husband’s commitment to the OK Kids Korral to support Oklahoma families who have children battling cancer. She spotlighted his unwavering dedication to perform for the troops, and politically, “consequences didn’t matter to him. …He didn’t care what anybody said. He was a patriot. He loved his country.

“Toby loved hard and he lived big. He enjoyed everything he did. He had no regrets through his life,” Covel said. “He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather — or Pop-Pop, to our grandkids — brother, friend, singer, producer, businessman. He was masterful at everything he did. ...Whatever he put his mind to, he excelled and he did the best he could do to be the best he could be.

“Toby never had to be branded as authentic. He was the example of authentic. There’ll never be another Toby Keith. The kids and I, our family and all of our friends, we’re all brokenhearted that he’s not here to be able to accept this. …He didn’t get a chance to hear the news that he had been inducted. But I have a feeling, in his words, he might’ve thought, ‘I should’ve been.’ So, Toby, we know you know. You are in the Country Music Hall of Fame.”