Toby Keith’s Final Recording Session Video Revealed

Video of Toby Keith‘s final vocal session was revealed on Monday night (July 29) during a taping for NBC’s tribute to the singer.

• The all-star tribute concert featured Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert and more.
• Krystal Keith’s cover of “Don’t Let the Old Man In” was a highlight.
• Keith died at age 62 in February. He had been battling cancer.

Keith’s final vocal recording was for a cover of the Joe Diffie‘s “Ships That Don’t Come In” on Hardy’s Hixtape. The pairing found the two late singers sharing a song with the help of some editing magic. Luke Combs also contributes vocals.

During taping for Toby Keith: American Icon, Hardy revealed that there was footage of Keith singing in the studio that day. Producers paired that tape with Keith’s vocals and asked the house band to play “Ships That Don’t Come In” live for the Bridgestone Arena audience.

It will all be shown during the Aug. 28 NBC telecast.

Toby Keith’s final live concert took place in December 2023 in Las Vegas. The singer put on three sold-out shows and seemed strong heading into the holidays. Talking to Taste of Country a few weeks earlier, he was eager to tour in 2024 and beyond.

“I Wanna Talk About Me,” “Beer for My Horses,” “Who’s Your Daddy?,” “Red Solo Cup” and  “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” were all part of his final show. Each is now part of the NBC tribute concert, as well, as performed by over two dozen country music stars and newcomers.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he’s written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.