As She Sings A Tribute Song To Her Late Father, Krystal, Toby Keith’s Daughter, Dazzles The Crowd In A Glittering Black Dress

Glamorous in a shimmering black dress, Krystal Keith evoked strong feelings with the heartfelt song she performed in memory of her father. She had said before that she knew the homage would make her cry.

Krystal Keith, Toby Keith’s daughter, honored her late father’s extraordinary legacy by performing one of his great songs at the “Toby Keith: American Icon,” which aired yesterday, August 28. Her performance moved the audience, who showered her with love and compliments.

Krystal owned the stage, looking stunning in a see-through, ruffled short sleeve black dress and donning one of Toby’s eye-catching black cowboy hats.

With the support of an exceptional live band, the “Daddy Dance With Me” performer passionately sang the lyrics of her late father’s well-known song, “Don’t Let The Old Man In.”

Krystal captured the audience with her strong vocals as she walked around the stage, passionately singing every word of every song.

Instagram users saw close-ups of her emotive face in a video clip that featured a little excerpt of her dynamic performance.

A film montage including endearing images of Krystal and Toby played on a projector screen behind Krystal as she performed, adding an added dimension of tenderness to the performance.

“There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when Toby’s daughter, @KrystalKeith, gave this beautiful performance of ‘Don’t Let The Old Man In’ […] You can catch it, along with performances from dozens of your favorite stars, TONIGHT at 9/8c on @NBC and streaming on @peacock,” read the caption accompanying the video post of Krystal’s performance.

Much like the caption above describes how emotional the audience was during Krystal’s performance, online observers were equally moved upon seeing the post. “Wow, this is going to make me cry,” expressed a netizen on Instagram.

Another echoed, “So beautiful, I’m crying. Such an amazing voice. ❤️[…]😍.” “Beautiful song; she’s just like her dad’s lovely voice,” swooned an admirer.

Jumping on the praise bandwagon, someone else gushed, “Beautiful! You look stunning and so proud to wear your father’s hat! Toby was one [helluva] man.”

“Take after dad, please sing for him… love you…” penned another person. An additional comment noted, “I can hear our [Toby’s] voice singing this song!😢😢💔.”

Krystal told a media source ahead of time about the concert honoring her late father, giving a hint as to what kind of memorial it would be. The “I Got You” singer divulged how she already knew that when she was asked to sing “Don’t Let The Old Man In,” it would be a tough performance.

“I was thinking, ‘OK, I can make it through a party song.’ But when [producers] approached me with [‘Don’t Let The Old Man In’], I was like, ‘Well… I already cry with that song, just listening to it. I don’t know how I’m going to sing it,’” Krystal disclosed.

The song, which is about dwelling on death, was particularly hard to sing because it was the one that Toby had performed during his last show before passing away in February. He passed away at the age of 62 from stomach cancer.

However, Krystal managed to overcome her reservations and revealed how she ended up being happy that producers had asked her to sing it. “I’m glad they did, though, because it turned out really special. I think that he would’ve been proud of it,” she said.

Despite initial reservations that Krystal and her family had about the timing of the tribute concert, she expressed how everything came together as “authentically Toby Keith.”

The concert was uniquely Toby because of a few small details, including a bar on stage, a large American flag, and military participation.

“It really epitomizes who he was and hits all of the things he loved in his life: his family, his foundation, his music and the military,” Krystal said.

Legendary performers including Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Ashley McBryde, Lainey Wilson, Eric Church, and Darius Rucker also took the stage during the two-hour spectacular.

Krystal said that her father would be honored to have such incredible musicians pay respect to him, even though she thought he didn’t want a big deal made about him.

A part of the concert ticket sales, according to reports, will benefit Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and The Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral.

The latter is one of Nashville’s top children’s hospitals, and the former offers families of critically ill pediatric patients cost-free housing.

Such causes bode well for Toby, who was all about helping people. “I think a majority of the good deeds he did will never even be known, because he loved doing it behind closed doors,” revealed Krystal about her father’s kind heart.

A few days after the country music icon’s passing on February 9, Krystal Keith posted a moving eulogy to him on social media, just prior to honoring him at the performance.

Support for the post, which included a treasured photo of the two performing together and personal remarks, was overwhelming from both friends and admirers.

Fan comments demonstrated Toby’s profound influence on his family as well as the larger community.

One of Toby’s employees expressed, “I’m so heartbroken for you and your family. Working for your dad for the past 27 years has been nothing but a true honor.” A fan shared, “This broke my heart to read.”

Another added a personal story of inspiration, sharing, “When I was 8 years old, I received a signed autograph and signed CD from Toby, he was a huge reason why I enlisted in the military as an adult.”

In another tribute, which Krystal posted while her father was still alive in September last year (2023), she opened up about Toby’s multifaceted life: “He has been my ICON since day 1, and in the last 6 months he has been honored with not one but 2 Icon Awards for the work he dedicated his life to,” she wrote.

However, Krystal’s moving statement in the second tribute—“He was my hero,” she said—encapsulated the deep loss by highlighting the heroism her father possessed on a personal level in addition to his public character.

The depth of their bond and the magnitude of her loss were palpable as she recounted the cherished moments: “I am so lucky to have had him and so grateful he got to walk me down the aisle and meet my babies.” She also shared her love for him and said nobody could be more proud of him than she is.

Her heartfelt remarks followed the confirmation of Toby’s death on February 5 via an official statement that was uploaded on his Instagram account. Heartbroken by the news, Toby’s followers went to social media to offer their condolences to the late musician.

In the message, it was mentioned that Toby died “peacefully” and was “surrounded by his family.” The Instagram post also stated that “he fought his fight with grace and courage.”

Upon seeing the post, one fan expressed, “We love you, Toby. I’m so devastated. Your music will live on forever, legend ❤️.” Similarly, another wrote, “My heart is broken… Thank you for sharing yourself with the world 😢❤️.”

A different admirer spoke to the singer’s family, which included his son Stelen Keith Covel, his wife Tricia Lucus, and his daughters Krystal and Shelley Covel Rowland.

The fan commented, “Rest in peace, Toby. Sending prayers to his family. This is such sad news, but you were a blessing and fought it out until the end like the legend you are.” Someone else wrote, “God bless his family through this hard time 😢.”

Before the “Don’t Let The Old Man In” singer died, he briefly spoke to a media outlet about his cancer. He discussed how he felt good that day he was giving the interview but also disclosed, “It’s a little bit of a roller coaster. You get good days, and you know, you’re up and down… It’s always zero to 60 and 60 to zero.”

Toby sent his final two videos to social media a few days before he passed away. In one, at the age of 14 or 15, he thought back on the first song he had written. In the other video, Toby was performing on stage for a sizable audience.