“Toby Keith: American Icon” Celebrates the Music, Life, and Legacy of a Legend Before A Sold-Out Crowd at Bridgestone Arena

Two-Hour Star-Studded Event Airs Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 9pm ET/PT on NBC

Personal Stories, Moving Tributes and Performances from Family and Friends Including: Trace Adkins, Priscilla Block, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jordan Davis, Scotty Emerick, Brett Favre, Brantley Gilbert, Riley Green, HARDY, Tyler Hubbard, Jamey Johnson, Krystal Keith, Ella Langley, Mac McAnally, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Leanne Morgan, Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Clay Walker, and Lainey Wilson

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 30, 2024) - Last night, thousands of adoring fans celebrated proud Oklahoman and global superstar Toby Keith. The sold-out crowd at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena joined Keith's family, friends and an array of artists, celebrities, and songwriters for "Toby Keith: American Icon."

Filled with epic performances, personal stories, and highlights from Keith's outstanding life and career, the event was taped live for a two-hour TV special set to air on Wednesday, August 28 at 9 pm ET/PT on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.

Carrie Underwood kicked it off and turned it up with "A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action." Eric Church kept the crowd on its feet with "As Good As I Once Was," and the night charged on with rocking Keith hits like "How Do You Like Me Now?!" performed by Brantley Gilbert and HARDY, "Who's Your Daddy?" sung by Riley Green and Ella Langley, and Ashley McBryde on "Wish I Didn't Know Now." Luke Bryan playfully donned a black cowboy hat for "Should've Been A Cowboy," and Lainey Wilson rode her "Yellowstone" horse Cowboy to stage to join Jamey Johnson for "Beer For My Horses." Darius Rucker offered a powerful "God Love Her," Priscilla Block introduced Jordan Davis and Clay Walker's performance of "I Love This Bar" with songwriter Scotty Emerick on guitar, and Tyler Hubbard led "Red Solo Cup" with friends, Jelly Roll, HARDY, Jordan Davis, songwriters Jim and Brett Beavers, and the Warren Brothers.

Known for his songwriting of hits including rowdy bar tunes, and even more so, his unwavering support of our military, the stage featured an enormous U.S. flag and platform VIP seats for our service members. Across the stage saw a full bar adorned with festive lights and all of the night's special guests reveling in the party and camaraderie pulling fans into a fitting celebration of the larger-than-life entertainer.

The tender moments came in full force as Keith's daughter Shelley Covel introduced her sister Krystal Keith for a beautiful rendition of "Don't Let the Old Man In." Those in the arena were also the first to see never-released footage of Keith singing his buddy Joe Diffie's "Ships That Don't Come In." The Honor Guard and U.S. Army Band delivered a moving "America The Beautiful," and close friend Trace Adkins shared a heartfelt tribute before singing "American Soldier" backed by Mac McAnally. Adkins quoted Keith, "Never apologize for being patriotic," as the crowd chanted "USA! USA! USA!"

Keith's heart and philanthropy were also on display as the night benefitted Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and The Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral. Families from each organization were brought up to share their stories of receiving care and support when they needed it most.

To close out the night, Parker McCollum lifted his hat to Keith and stomped out a rousing rendition of "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" joined by nearly the entire lineup.

Special guests and speakers throughout the evening included Dolly Parton, Carrot Top, Blake Shelton, Stephen Colbert, Reba McEntire, George Strait, General Jones, Willie Nelson, Sammy Hagar, Miranda Lambert, Brett Favre, and video segments reflecting The Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral and Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

One of the most prolific self-directed creative forces in country music's modern era, singer-songwriter Toby Keith amassed 42 top 10 hits, 33 No. 1s, 44 million albums sold, 100 million BMI performances, and more than 10 billion streams largely on the strength of his own songwriting and producing. With songs including "Should've Been A Cowboy," "How Do You Like Me Now?!," "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)," "I Love This Bar," and so many more, Keith's influence crosses generations and his legacy reaches around the globe. He was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame shortly before his passing in February. Among his many accomplishments, the New York-based all-genre Songwriters Hall of Fame (2015), the National Medal of Arts (2021), the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (2021), and BMI Icon (2022) were his most treasured.

A portion of the ticket sales will benefit The Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for families of children dealing with critical illnesses, and Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, one of the nation's leading children's hospitals and the top rated in the Southeast. Donations can be made at https://www.cfmt.org/funds/tobykeith/.

"Toby Keith: American Icon," the live concert event and NBC special, are produced by UMG Nashville's Sing Me Back Home Productions and ITV America's Thinkfactory Media, in association with Alex Coletti Productions. Cindy Mabe, Dawn Gates, and Harper Grae are executive producers for Sing Me Back Home Productions in partnership with Mercury Studios executive producers Alice Webb and Barak Moffitt; Adam Reed and Jordana Hochman are executive producers for Thinkfactory; Alex Coletti is executive producer for Alex Coletti Productions; TK Kimbrell and R.A. Clark also serve as executive producers. Mercury Studios represents "Toby Keith: American Icon" for international sales and distribution. The show and special have been packaged by UTA - Keith's longtime agency partner.

The sold-out concert at Bridgestone Arena was promoted by Live Nation.

About Toby Keith

The familiar maxim of the triple threat - singer, songwriter, entertainer - didn't begin to cover it for Toby Keith, one of the most prolific self-directed creative forces in country's modern era. Keith amassed 42 top 10 hits, 33 No. 1s, 44 million albums sold, 100 million BMI performances, and more than 10 billion streams largely on the strength of his own songwriting and producing, and under the banner of his own Show Dog Nashville record label. Among his many accomplishments, the New York based all-genre Songwriters Hall of Fame (2015), the National Medal of Arts (2021), the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (2021), and BMI Icon (2022) were his most treasured. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame shortly before his passing in Feb. 2024.

Toby Keith's career completed a perfect 30-year circle in the fall of 2023 as he performed "Don't Let The Old Man In" and received the Country Icon award at the People's Choice Country Awards. That moment once again had Keith at the center of a viral surge as tens of millions of video views underscored the song's new and deeply personal meaning. The emotionally supercharged performance received widespread acclaim and drove the song to No. 1 on multiple Billboard and iTunes charts. It also set the table for a triumphant return to full-blown performing at his December 2023 Las Vegas residency.

Inspired by a conversation he had with Clint Eastwood in 2018, "Don't Let The Old Man In" was later featured in Eastwood's movie The Mule. It is yet another in a long line of chart-topping, viral, addition-to-the-cultural-lexicon milestones in his career. As a songwriter, this song that he wrote, solo, remarkably mirrors the success of another song that he wrote, also solo, but decades earlier. Of course, that song was his debut single "Should've Been A Cowboy," which propelled him to country music prominence and, eventually, dominance. "Should've Been A Cowboy" soon had to compete with scores of his other multi-week chart-toppers as Keith's signature song. Among them, "Who's That Man," "How Do You Like Me Now?!," "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)," "I Love This Bar," "Beer For My Horses," "American Soldier," "As Good As I Once Was," "God Love Her," "Red Solo Cup" and "Made in America." And then, "Don't Let The Old Man In."

Astoundingly, one of the most accomplished songwriters in any genre bookended his career exactly the way he'd started it: Sitting down with a guitar, by himself, and writing a song for the ages.

Not insignificantly, his musical acumen was nearly matched by his business acumen - an exceedingly rare left brain-right brain confluence. From his owned and operated record label, golf course and Luck E Strike tackle company to restaurants, movies, horses and a long-running association with Ford Trucks explain how in 2013 he was named "Country's $500 Million Man" by Forbes. Dozens of other accolades include the Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, Billboard Artist of the Decade and golf's Arnie Award.

Toby's most rewarding experiences, however, had come from giving back locally, nationally, and abroad. His annual golf classics fund The Toby Keith Foundation and OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for families of children dealing with critical illnesses. The 20th installment of the charity event raised more than $1.6 million in addition to receiving pledges of $1.5 million for a newly established endowment, bringing its all-in total to nearly $20 million. His 11 USO Tours enhanced the lives of nearly 256,000 troops and military families across 18 countries with more than 285 events, and was recognized with the Spirit of the USO Award (2014). And when a tornado ravaged his hometown, Toby Keith was the face of the community and helped shoulder the cleanup with the 2013 OK Twister Relief Concert. Triple threat? How about singer, songwriter, musician, producer, entertainer, entrepreneur, humanitarian, Oklahoman and patriot.

About Sing Me Back Home Productions

Sing Me Back Home Productions is a partner of Universal Music Group, the world leader in music-based entertainment. Harnessing the power of the storytelling founded within the "three chords and the truth" of country music, Sing Me Back Home Productions is a pioneer in showcasing genre and career storylines, Heartland adjacent programming, and Faith and Family lifestyle narratives through the ideation, development, production, financing and distribution of premium documentaries, original scripted and unscripted television, feature films, and short form content. Creating multi-dimensional story-driven projects that explore the stories behind the biggest recording artists, their music, videos, live performances, and the cultural and social events their music helped define, Sing Me Back Home Productions is uniquely poised to celebrate and authentically represent the rich and multi-generational past, present, and future of music in innovative and inspirational programming.

About Mercury Studios

Mercury Studios is a full-service production studio, focused on telling compelling stories through the lens of music. Current and recent projects include Oscar and BAFTA award nominated American Symphony, directed by Matthew Heineman for the Obamas' Higher Ground Productions/Netflix, If These Walls Could Sing, directed by Mary McCartney for Disney+, My Life as a Rolling Stone for the BBC and MGM+, Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl for Netflix, and This Town, a six-part series for the BBC from writer, creator, and executive producer Steven Knight, Linda Perry: Let it Die Here, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and recently announced One to One: John & Yoko from Oscar and BAFTA award winning director, Kevin Macdonald. Mercury Studios also produced Sam Smith: Live at the Royal Albert Hall for BBC, Billie Eilish's Overheated at the O2 London, and Lang Lang Plays Disney for Disney+. Editorially independent, Mercury Studios is powered by Universal Music Group and represents the world's leading catalog of music-related content, consisting of thousands of hours of premium music-driven film and television programming.

About Thinkfactory Media

Thinkfactory Media is a full-service production company that creates content for an array of television networks and streaming platforms. Based in Nashville and Los Angeles, and run by CEO and veteran producer Adam Reed, Thinkfactory is revered for its breadth of series and franchises, encompassing bold and unexpected subjects that captivate America's heartland. The company's recent series and long-running hits include splashy formats such as WE tv's Marriage Boot Camp, TBS' Rat In the Kitchen and A&E's What's It Worth with Jeff Foxworthy, as well as docuseries ratings juggernauts Mama June (WE tv) and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels (A&E).

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