Toby Keith’s Final Recording Revealed

We know that Toby Keith was prolific, releasing his nineteenth album, Peso In My Pocket, in October 2021. But did you know that he was working on music before he died?

As Countrytown noted in our review of the star-studded tribute concert, Toby Keith: American Icon and Taste Of Country reports, Keith’s final recording was a cover of Joe Diffie’s Ships That Don’t Come In, a feature on HARDY’s Hixtape: Vol. 3: Difftape tribute release, which he dropped earlier this year. However, until this week, nobody had seen the video.

Countrytown’s Nicole Palsa noted:

Fans were treated to an exclusive look at a video of Keith from his last-ever studio recording. Part of the Joe Diffie tribute album Hixtape Vol. 3: Difftape, Keith’s version of Ships That Don’t Come In showcased the thunderous power of his voice, which he maintained until the very end.

Luke Combs also features on the recording. You can watch footage from the concert below.

While the tribute concert took place on Monday (29 July), fans in the US will be able to watch it on NBC on Wednesday, 28 August, from 9 to 11 pm ET/PT. 

All proceeds from the Toby Keith tribute concert went to the OK Kids Korral and Monroe Carell Jr.’s Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

In a statement, HARDY said of the Joe Diffie tribute album (via Music Row), “I’m honoured that we get to be a small part of the legacy of Joe Diffie with Difftape. The thing I’ve always admired about Joe’s catalogue is the quality of the songs. He had an unbelievable ear for hits, and I love that we got this cast together to celebrate them.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Toby Keith would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum at the CMA Theatre in October. He sadly died just one day before the names of the final inductees were delivered to the Hall of Fame (per Rolling Stone).

Toby Keith passed away in February at the age of 62. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2022.

In a statement, Keith’s family wrote that he died peacefully and “fought his fight with grace and courage”.

Keith was a country music star who had twenty #1 Billboard country hits and 42 top 10 singles across his multi-decade career, including How Do You Like Me Now?!, Should've Been A Cowboy, As Good As I Once Was, My List and Beer For My Horses, a duet with Willie Nelson.

His impact went beyond music, with the singer survived by his wife, Tricia Lucus, and children Shelley, Krystel and Stelen. Toby and Tricia set up the Toby Keith Foundation in 2006 to help children and their families dealing with cancer. They left a charitable legacy to join his musical legacy as one of country music’s most revered figures.