Eric Church, Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan, Jelly Roll and More Honor Late Toby Keith in TV Special: All the Highlights

The sellout live performance, staged in Nashville, options two hours filled with memorable performances and heartfelt tributes to the icon, who died earlier this 12 months

Although took his ultimate breath earlier this 12 months, his spirit is alive — and what Keith did greatest — kicking ass on NBC’s much-anticipated tribute live performance that airs tonight.

Toby Keith: American Icon was filmed earlier than a sellout crowd at Nashville’s Bridgestone Enviornment in late July, and a flock of his well-known mates and admirers, together with , , and , confirmed as much as honor the nation legend.

Although, naturally, there have been tearful moments, the night was principally a festivity of Keith, who , at age 62, on Feb. 5 in his native Oklahoma. He left behind a treasure trove of music that mirror his uncommon mixture of qualities — rowdy showman, passionate patriot, tender household man, gifted wordsmith — and all had been elevated throughout the two-hour occasion.

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PEOPLE had a primary seat within the enviornment, and listed below are can’t-miss highlights that viewers can look ahead to:

Church’s Gratitude

One of many maverick superstars who got here after Keith, Eric Church reminisces to the viewers about his early days when he couldn’t get a gig. “Toby Keith was the man that known as,” Church recollects, “and mentioned, ‘Hey, why don’t you come play reveals with me?’” Church is now about the identical age as Keith was when he made that provide, which makes the tune that Church performs, “I’m Not as Good as I As soon as Was,” an ideal match.

“You Are Reality”

pays homage to Keith’s Songwriters Corridor of Fame profession, touching her coronary heart and declaring: “Being a songwriter is about being truthful, and Toby, you’re fact.” Her musical contribution is a stirring supply of “I Want I Didn’t Know Now.”

Earlier, on the purple carpet, McBryde recalled opening for Keith in her early-career days. “He made certain that I used to be seen and that I used to be snug,” she advised PEOPLE. “And in doing that, he taught a really inexperienced, very younger artist find out how to deal with individuals. Now my expertise with Toby will get to be different artists’ experiences with me.”

Experience ‘Em, Lainey

Wilson is aware of find out how to make a memorable entrance: She first seems on the rear of the sector on the again of Cowboy, the horse she’s ridden as a co-star on blockbuster TV drama Yellowstone. Horse and rider observe a meandering path to the lip of the stage, the place Wilson dismounts to affix for a rousing duet of — what else? — “Beer for My Horses.”

Altering Hats

Tapped to sing “Ought to’ve Been a Cowboy,” Luke Bryan abandons his trademark ball cap for a black cowboy hat, and he tells its touching backstory, recalling how he minimize his enamel singing Toby Keith songs in Georgia bars. His sister, who died in 2007, gave him the cowboy hat to put on throughout that early period.

“I used to put on this hat each evening,” Bryan explains, “and ever since I misplaced my sister, I haven’t put this hat onstage in a whole lot of years … and I used to be strolling out of the home [tonight], and I mentioned, you understand what, I’m simply an outdated nation boy from Georgia, however Toby Keith definitely made me need to be a cowboy.”

Jelly Roll’s Tearjerker

Keith’s smart lyrics for life, contained in “My Checklist,” tackle much more that means now that their author is gone: “I received’t break my again for 1,000,000 bucks / I can’t take to my grave / So why delay for tomorrow / What I might get completed at present.”

Introducing the tune, shares that Keith “impressed me to be a greater father,” and he dedicates it to Keith’s household, who sit on one aspect of the stage (beneath a large U.S. flag and a scaffold crammed with troopers from close by Fort Campbell). Jelly delivers the lyrics with subdued authority, bringing many within the viewers, together with Keith’s son, , to tears.

Rising to the Problem

the honoree’s 38-year-old daughter, soars by the poignant life classes of “Don’t Let the Outdated Man In,” regardless of the concern she expressed, earlier on the purple carpet, about even getting by the tune. Toby Keith memorably carried out it final fall on the Individuals’s Alternative Nation Awards.

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The present’s producers, Krystal Keith defined, picked it for her to sing, and “I needed to actually simply type of speak myself into it. It’s undoubtedly a heart-wrenching tune.” (Much more so, given Keith’s two-year battle with most cancers. He wrote the tune and initially sang it for the 2018 movie, The Mule.)

Let’s Have a Occasion!

A makeshift bar on the aspect of the stage reverse the Keith household retains the occasion vibes flowing all through the night; the artists all collect there after their performances.

However depart it to merrymaker to maneuver the party-hearty environment to heart stage with a raucous supply of “Pink Solo Cup.” One of many few Keith hits that he didn’t write, he famously known as it “the stupidest tune that I’ve ever heard in my life,” but additionally “freakin’ superior.” The songs 4 writers, Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brad Warren and Brett Warren, be part of Hubbard (as they joined Keith on the unique recording), together with , and Jelly Roll.

Present Stealer

Maybe probably the most stunning second of the night happens when Jelly Roll declares Keith had “yet another nice efficiency” that had but to be seen. Jelly then introduces a video of the late artist in his ultimate studio session recording “Ships That Don’t Come In” for HARDY’s Hixtape Quantity 3, which celebrates the music of the late . In these temporary three minutes, Keith steals the present along with his interpretation of the tune’s achingly wistful lyrics.

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Name to Responsibility

Keith’s shut good friend is tapped for the late artist’s iconic salute to the navy, “American Soldier,” and the second is made much more dramatic by the looks onstage of a U.S. Military coloration guard previous the efficiency.

Earlier, on the purple carpet, Adkins mentioned Keith’s “love for the women and men who serve this nation was completely real. To have the ability to sing this tune that meant a lot to him means the world to me, too.”

Pink, White and Blue Finale

Keith’s feisty signature tune, “Courtesy of the Pink, White, and Blue (The Indignant American)” was the final tune he carried out publicly, at every of his trio of ultimate live shows final December in Las Vegas. It closes out the tribute, as effectively, and maybe it’s applicable that , among the many vivid stars of nation’s new technology, takes the helm.

Although he by no means met Keith, McCollum defined on the purple carpet that he grew up an enormous fan, and he makes use of Keith’s profession and life as a supply of inspiration: “I’ve considered what number of occasions he most likely had days that he was gonna throw in a towel. I’m certain he felt these issues. However that man embodies what it takes to make nation music on this city.”

McCollum doesn’t must go it alone along with his daunting task: Not solely does your complete forged be part of him on the second verse, however the majority of the capability crowd additionally lustily proves they know each final phrase of the flag-waving anthem.

Toby Keith: American Icon, a two-hour particular, airs at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT Wednesday on NBC, and it’ll start streaming on Thursday on Peacock. A portion of live performance ticket gross sales have been donated to — a cost-free house in Oklahoma Metropolis for households of kids coping with crucial sicknesses — and at Vanderbilt College Medical Heart in Nashville.

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