Last Tuesday (Feb. 6), Stephen Colbert spoke glowingly of his friend Toby Keith just one day after the country singer-songwriter's death at age 62.
"I was shocked and saddened when I saw the news this morning," Colbert said on "The Late Show." "I knew Toby was ill — he'd been fighting stomach cancer for some time — but I still had hope that we'd see each other again and that we would hear him on this stage."
Colbert bonded with Keith over the years, starting with an appearance by the country star on "The Colbert Report."
"I was lucky enough to become friends with Toby over the years, as improbable as that seems. We met very early on 'The Colbert Report' and back then, there was a not-so-helpful legend that I had knives out for some of my guests. It didn't help that, at the beginning, I sometimes did."
Instead of trolling Keith based off the singer's reputation, Colbert gave him a fair shake.
"I remember having some kind of plan for Toby, I think related to his 'Boot in your ass' song ['Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)']," Colbert explained. "But right before I went onstage, I remember vividly looking down at my shoes and saying, 'What are you doing? You're a host. He's your guest. Make him feel welcome. See who he is.'
"And what do you know? We hit it off like a house on fire. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed talking to Toby Keith," the host continued. "And, evidently, Toby had a good time too, because after the show, I was headed to a postmortem meeting and he was coming out of his green room. Those rooms are on the same hallway. As he was heading for the door that goes down to 54th Street, he caught my eye and said: 'Hey man, you do a great job, whatever the f—k it is you do.' And I took it as the greatest compliment."
Colbert concluded by summarizing the main lesson he learned from Keith.
"That day, Toby taught me to not prejudge a guest and to have my intention but to keep my eyes open to the reality of who they are," Colbert said. "For that lesson, and for a lot of other things, I'm always going to be grateful."
