Luke Combs paid tribute to the late Toby Keith from the stage of country music's mother church on Tuesday night (Feb. 6) .
During the invitee-only Living Lucky With Luke Combs concert at the Ryman Auditorium, Combs played songs based off audience suggestions. After quite a few spiritedly shouted for a Keith cover, Combs obliged.
"I'm glad you guys asked, because we didn't know if we should do a Toby song," Combs said from the stage (as quoted by Billboard). 'It's good to know you love Toby's music as much as we do."
After a brief run-through of its riffs with his band and a search for its lyrics on his phone, Combs sounded great throughout an impromptu take on "Should've Been a Cowboy."
@shanegutormson @Luke Combs pays tribute to the late @Toby Keith at the Ryman Auditorium! Wish I could have been there! Video by Raised Rowdy! #lukecombs #tobykeith #shouldabeenacowboy #redsolocup #tobykeithmusic #tobykeithofficial #lukecombsmusic #lukecombscover
The 1993 hit is synonymous with one of country music's most lauded decades. Nowadays, it's frequently covered live by Jelly Roll.
Per CMT, Combs' set included acoustic versions of many of the hits you'd expect, such as "Doin' This" and "Beautiful Crazy."
The Keith tribute came two days after Combs' show-stealing "Fast Car" duet at the 2024 Grammy Awards with Tracy Chapman.
"(Chapman) is one of my heroes and one of the reasons I started singing," Combs said during the CBS broadcast. "Singing with Tracy was incredible. I did my best. Now you've heard Tracy do it, which is way better. But now you get to hear me do it."
Chapman wrote and first recorded her 1998 hit "Fast Car." Combs grew up hearing the song off a cassette in his dad's pickup truck. Thus, there's sentimental reasons why Combs included his cover of "Fast Car" on the 2023 album Gettin' Old.
Combs' version won Single of the Year at the 2023 CMA Awards. For the Grammys, Combs' surprise crossover hit was up for Best Country Solo Performance.
