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Blake Shelton salutes ‘fellow Okie’ Toby Keith in new NBC special

Vaseline August 29, 2024

“There will never be another Toby Keith,” declares Oklahoma native Blake Shelton in the new television special “Toby Keith: American Icon.”

Ahead of the two-hour concert special’s premiere on Wednesday, August 28 at 8 p.m. on NBC, the network shared a clip of Shelton’s heartfelt tribute to Keith on social media.

“When I was just a starting artist in the music industry, Toby was the first big artist that gave me a chance, and I think that was because I was a fellow Okie. I looked up to Toby and I learned a lot from being around him,” Shelton says in the clip.

Keith, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Oklahoma Hall of Fame, died on February 5 at the age of 62 after a years-long battle with stomach cancer.

A host of country stars paid tribute to the Norman-based superstar in the special “Toby Keith: American Icon,” which taped July 29 before a sold-out crowd at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Fellow Oklahoma superstar Carrie Underwood and country hitmakers Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde, Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson and more came together to sing hits from the late Sooner State superstar.

Keith’s widow, Tricia Covel, and their three children attended the show, with Krystal Keith singing his emotional ode, “Don’t Let the Old Man In.”

In addition to Shelton, guests and speakers scheduled to appear during the special include Dolly Parton, Carrot Top, Stephen Colbert, George Strait, General Jones, Willie Nelson, Sammy Hagar, Miranda Lambert, Brett Favre and fellow country music superstar Reba McEntire.

Following its premiere on NBC, “Toby Keith: American Icon” will air on Peacock the following day.

During his thirty-year career, Keith scored 42 top 10 hits and 33 number 1 singles, sold 44 million albums and generated more than 10 billion streams.

The singer-songwriter, who was born in Clinton and raised in Moore, was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame shortly before his death in February and will be posthumously inducted into the hallowed hall in October.