Here’s to the great Toby Keith.
On Monday night, it was announced by his family that the country hitmaker passed away at the age of 62 after a long battle with stomach cancer:
“Toby Keith passed away peacefully last night on February 5th, surrounded by his family. He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time.”
And of course, tributes have been flowing in for the country legend. He made an impact on so many people through his music, but the stories about his character and the kind of man he was stand out to me above everything else.
I think we’ve all been taking a look back and reminiscing on all of the great music he brought us too, so much so that many of his albums have been charting on iTunes, including his 35 Biggest Hits is album, which has been sitting at the #1 spot for the last day or so.
And this morning, Riley Green appeared on Fox & Friends to perform “Different ‘Round Here,” his current single at country radio (the studio cut features Luke Combs).
Of course, he also spoke about the very sad loss of Keith, who has clearly influenced his music and his approach to his career. Riley explained that he’s always admired the way Keith supported the military and how he “stood his ground” on so many things:
“Something about Toby Keith I always loved was how he had his values and spent time playing shows with the military and really stood his ground on a lot of things.
And I think that’s something a lot of people respect about him.”
He continued, saying he really appreciated how Keith took time out of his busy touring schedule often and made a point to play for our military:
“I think it impacted everybody, he’s such a big influence. Like I said, I remember him really being the first guy to play those shows overseas for the military bases and really taking that time out.
Being a touring artist and knowing how tough this is, to take that time is important and it meant a lot to him.”
Well said, Riley… RIP to a country legend.
Here’s a little bit of him performing “Different ‘Round Here”:
And while we’re on the subject, here’s a little bit of Riley covering Keith’s 1st #1 hit, “Should’ve Been A Cowboy”:
