Luke Bryan was among the dozens of country artists honoring the late Toby Keith during a Nashville taping at Bridgestone Arena in July as part of the two-hour NBC concert special Toby Keith: American Icon, which will air Wednesday (Aug. 28) from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT, and Billboard has an exclusive look at the performance before it airs.
For his tribute, two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Bryan donned a cowboy hat that had been given to him by his sister (who passed away in 2007) as he delivered Keith’s debut hit, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”
“This hat has been hanging in my closet for probably 15 years,” Bryan said prior to the performance, recalling his pre-Nashville years when he was playing bars in his home state of Georgia and performing “about 10 Toby Keith songs a night.” “I used to wear this hat every night, and ever since I lost my sister, I hadn’t put this hat [on] onstage in a lot of years. I was walkin’ out the house, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m just an old country boy from Georgia, but Toby Keith certainly made me want to be a cowboy.’ I’m going to be a cowboy tonight … This is for you, Toby.”
“Should’ve Been a Cowboy” spent two weeks at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart in 1993. Keith would go on to notch 20 No. 1 hits on that chart during his career, including “I Love This Bar,” “American Soldier,” and “I’m Just Talkin’ ‘Bout Tonight.”
Keith died in February at age 62 following a battle with stomach cancer. He will be posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame later this year
Watch Billboard‘s look at Bryan’s performance of “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” below:
