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In February 2024, soon after being the first country artist to win the People's Country Music Award, legendary singer-songwriter Toby Keith passed away after a heroic battle with gastric cancer.
Throughout his three decades in the industry, Keith has had a profound impact on not just country music, but the people around him as well. To honor the life and career of the country music icon, NBC is hosting a 2 hour long concert featuring over 25 beloved country voices that have been inspired by Keith. As well as musical performances, personal stories from friends and family members will be shared that will highlight his career and the impact he had on so many.
Trace Adkins, a long-time friend of Keith, will be performing a beloved Keith Classic, "American Soldier."
“To be doing a song that I know meant a lot to Toby, ‘American Soldier,’ his respect and love for the men and women that serve this country was, it was genuine and it was profound,” Adkins shared. “And so I know what this song meant to him and so I’m just proud to be doing it.”
While talking with Country Now, Brantley Gilbert shared some insights that he has learned from Keith. Having been on tour with Keith, he got to know him on a whole new level and shared some lessons that he learned from the country icon:
“I hope a lot of these younger artists are paying attention. I think tonight, I hope this isn’t the last time that we pay tribute to this man, because Toby to me showed everybody that it was all right to do you and to do it unapologetically. But to do that you had to be a person of substance. You had to be somebody worth following. And man, I mean, there was nobody better at that. I can’t say that there was anything that Toby stood behind that I couldn’t get behind. And for somebody to be able to be unapologetic about who they are, especially in this day and age, man, it is worth its way gold. He was a legend and is a legend and will always be a legend for a reason.”
Other Country singers that are paying tribute to Keith on Aug. 28 include:
- Carrie Underwood
- Eric Church
- HARDY
- Darius Rucker
- Riley Green
- Ella Langley
- Lainey Wilson
- Jamey Johnson
- Jelly Roll
- Luke Bryan
- Ashley McBryde
- Parker McCollum
- Jordan Davis
- Clay Walker
- Krystal Keith
- Scotty Emerick
- Mac McAnally
- Tyler Hubbard
This list hardly scratches the surface of the many people that Keith impacted during his lifetime. Hearing their odes to the man "worth following" will be an unforgettable performance for all to witness.
The event will support foundations such as the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and The Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral. It will air on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 9 PM ET/PT on NBC and will streamable on Peacock the following day.
More must-reads:
- Iconic musicians who are notoriously difficult to work with
- Long-standing celebrity couples who never got married
- Which singers have the greatest voices in music history?
- 20 celebrities who left the country after a career in Hollywood
- 20 celebrity sets who've stayed close friends for years
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