Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood is among the many friends of Toby Keith who are sharing tributes to the country icon, who passed away Feb. 5.
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Eastwood, who inspired Keith's song "Don't Let the Old Man In," shared that he was "extremely saddened" following the passing of Keith.
"Extremely saddened by the passing of Toby Keith," the 93-year-old actor wrote. "Rest in peace my friend."
Keith wrote "Don't Let the Old Man In" after a conversation with Eastwood.
"I [asked] 'What keeps you going?' and he said, 'I get up every day and don't let the old man in.' And I went, 'I'm writing this damn thing right now,'" Keith said during a 2018 recent press conference. "I didn't ask if I could put it in the movie. I just went home and wrote it and sent it to him and hoped that he would consider it. And, you know, he did."
"I knew who I was writing it for and I knew who had inspired me to write it. I wanted to deliver him the best thing that I could," Keith continued. "The second I wrote it, it was just like I jumped 500 feet in the air. ... I knew I had accomplished what I wanted to accomplish."
Eastwood clearly connected with the song. He would go on to feature the track in his 2018 film "The Mule."
The song was later covered by another hero of Keith's: Willie Nelson. Nelson recorded the song on his album First Rose of Spring.
"To have Clint Eastwood put it in the movie and have one of my friends and an American icon like yourself record it is just the best thing a songwriter could ever have," Keith told Nelson in a SiriusXM interview.
Keith passed away peacefully surrounded by family after a three-year battle with stomach cancer.
