Exclusive: Luke Bryan Honors His Sister and Toby Keith During All-Star ‘Toby Keith: American Icon’

Luke Bryan doesn’t make a habit of wearing a cowboy hat on stage. Still, on Monday night, he pulled an extremely sentimental one out of his closet to wear during an all-star tribute to Toby Keith at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.

Toby Keith: American Icon also included Eric Church, Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins, Jordan Davis, Brantley Gilbert, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Darius Rucker, Ashley McBryde and more. The concert was taped and will air on Wednesday, August 28, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock. Keith died in February from an extended battle with stomach cancer.

A portion of the ticket sales benefited The Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for families of children dealing with critical illnesses, and Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Keith’s adult children – Krystal, Stelen, and Shelley – were present, and Krystal sang her dad’s emotional “Don’t Let The Old Man In” during the show.

In a nod to the night’s atmosphere of family and remembrance, Bryan reached behind him, grabbed his black cowboy hat, and placed it on his head after he stepped up to the microphone.

Bryan told the audience that he sang all of Keith’s hits while playing bars in Georgia before moving to Nashville. His sister, who passed away in 2007, bought him the hat to wear during those early shows.

Luke Bryan: “Toby Keith is Just a Legendary Person”

“This hat has been hanging in my closet for probably 15 years,” Bryan said. “I used to wear this hat every night. Ever since I lost my sister, I hadn’t put this hat on stage in a lot of years. I was walking out of the house, and I said, ‘I’m just an old country boy from Georgia, but Toby Keith certainly made me want to be a cowboy, and I’m going to be a cowboy tonight.”

Bryan kept the crowd cheering wildly during his version of Keith’s breakthrough hit, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.”

Before the show, Bryan told American Songwriter that he didn’t get to spend as much time with Keith as he would have liked because the proud Oklahoman was busy dedicating his time to the men and women in the military. Bryan continued that all anyone had to do to understand Keith’s impact on country music was look at the all-star line-up he came out to honor him.

“Toby is just a legendary person,” Bryan said. “At the height of his career, he’s over there uplifting our troops and our soldiers, and nobody laid the groundwork for that better than Toby Keith. I was a fan from ‘Should’ve Been a Cowboy,’ and I was a fan of everything he did because he had fun. He was serious. He was a world-class singer. He was authentic, and that’s what it takes to be considered an icon. He’s definitely that and left a big mark on my career.”

Bryan said it was an honor to sing for Keith on Monday night.

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(Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for Universal Music Group)