It was one of his first performances since he had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. But when he picked up his guitar, that deep baritone voice was still there.
The song he chose was “Don’t Let the Old Man In.”
He wrote it for Clint Eastwood’s 2018 film The Mule. The idea came from a talk the two men had. Toby asked Clint, then 88 years old, how he kept going. Clint answered, “I don’t let the old man in.”
Toby once said that when he first sang the line, he knew “it’s got to be a ballad and it’s got to be simple.”
That night, it felt like he was singing about himself. “Many moons I have lived,” he sang. “My body’s weathered and worn.” In the crowd, his wife, Tricia, had tears in her eyes.
When he accepted his award, he kept his sense of humor. “I bet y’all never thought you’d see me in skinny jeans,” he joked. Then he thanked God, who he said had “been riding shotgun with me for a little while,” and he thanked the fans.
After the show, the song went to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart.
It turned out to be his last TV performance. Toby Keith died on February 6, 2024, at the age of 62.
He never did let the old man in. He fought right to the end, and he left us singing.
What’s your favorite Toby Keith song? Share this with a friend who misses him too.
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