Leave it to Luke Bryan to bring the waterworks. The singer took to Bridgestone Arena with Lainey Wilson and others to honor the late Toby Keith. He performed as part of Toby Keith: American Icon.
Videos by Wide Open Country
In addition to sharing stories about Keith, Bryan also revealed a surprising emotional connection to the star. Prior to playing Keith's breakout 1993 hit "Should've Been a Cowboy," he retrieved a cowboy hat. "Hold on, let me grab something," he said. He explained that his late sister gave him the cowboy hat when he was just starting his career.
Bryan wore that hat almost every night, but after his sister died, he couldn't bear to wear it. He hung his hat up in the closet for the past 15 years but decided to break it out once more.
He said, "So this hat has been hanging in my closet for probably fifteen years. My sister down in Georgia, when I was playing bars and doing about ten Toby Keith songs a night, my sister bought me this hat. I used to wear this hat every night. Ever since I lost my sister, I haven't put this hat on stage in a lot of years. I was walkin' out the house and I said, 'You know what? I'm just an ol' country boy from Georgia, but Toby Keith certainly made me wanna be a cowboy...This is for you Toby!"
@musicmayhemmagazine.com @Luke Bryan telling an emotional story before paying homage to late country music icon @Toby Keith with a performance of ?Should've Been a Cowboy? during the Toby Keith: American Icon taping in Nashville. #LukeBryan #TobyKeith #Nashville #CountryMusic #ShouldveBeenACowboy
Luke Bryan Makes Fans Emotional
In response to the story and tribute, fans of Bryan got emotional. One wrote, "You're killing me with these vids tonight, I'm not gonna be okay for the next couple of days? my late dad was his biggest fan so when he passed also it hit pretty close to home. Thank you for these."
Another wrote, "These Tribute videos with all of his fellow artists honoring him is sensational!! Toby was the BEST." Yet another wrote, "Luke always makes me smile and laugh! He just made me cry! Love the Toby tribute!!"
Still another wrote, "Great job Luke Toby is a legend that left to soon so sorry for his family." Another wrote, "I love this tribute. One of my favorite songs & the song I first learn to dance to for couples @ our local country bar. Those were the best days.RIP Toby."
