See Toby Keith in His Final Studio Recording Alongside Luke Combs

Six months after Toby Keith’s untimely death, Luke Combs is remembering the late country legend with pride. On Thursday, an official video debuted of Combs and Keith in the studio recording a cover of the late Joe Diffie’s “Ships That Don’t Come In,” which dropped earlier this year.

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“To be on a song with Toby was a no-brainer when it got presented to me,” Combs said in a press release. “That was something I had always hoped to do but never knew if it would happen or not.”  (Keith’s appearance on “Ships That Don’t Come In,” with Combs, is his final studio performance before his death in February.)

On Thursday, Combs said connecting with Keith before his death and singing a classic by Diffie, who died in 2020, made things “even better” for him, since Diffie gave him his Opry member award years prior.

“I grew up listening to both of those guys’ music, so to be a part of this version of the song and it now be Toby’s last recording is kind of hard to put into words,” Combs said. “Country music misses them greatly, but I hope we’re doing justice to continue what they started.”

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Hardy’s Hixtape released its third volume, Difftape , featuring 17 duets of Diffie classics in March. The tribute album featured covers of Diffie classics by Morgan Wallen, Post Malone, Blake Shelton, Chris Young, and Clint Black. The “Ships That Don’t Come In” recording featured previously unheard recordings of Diffie’s voice from 2016.

Keith died of stomach cancer after battling the disease for several years. Diffie died at 61 in March 2020 following complications with Covid-19.

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