Since Toby Keith‘s death in February 2024 at the age of 62, numerous country artists have paid tribute to the late Country Music Hall of Famer by incorporating cover versions of his hits into their shows. Now, for Apple Music Nashville Sessions: Toby Keith Covered, six country artists are offering live-recorded covers of Keith’s hits.
Riley Green, Ella Langley, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Megan Moroney and Tucker Wetmore each recorded songs in Apple Music’s Nashville studio. McBryde covered “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action,” Langley performed Keith’s 1993 song “Wish I Didn’t Know Now,” and Moroney performed Keith’s 2002 hit “Who’s Your Daddy?.” McCollum performed “Who’s That Man,” while Green performed Keith’s 1993 debut single, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and Wetmore sang “As Good As I Once Was.”
“Toby Keith loved music and especially singer-songwriters. He would be so proud of this group of monster talent that covered his songs,” TK Kimbrell, Toby Keith’s longtime manager and friend, said in a statement. “Thanks, Ashley, Ella, Megan, Parker, Riley and Tucker! Y’all are truly the hottest of the hot, and Toby’s music lives on!”
“When I think of the word ‘honky-tonk’ and what that would sound like, this is one of my references, like Brooks & Dunn would be a reference. Mark Chesnutt would be a reference. Toby Keith is definitely a reference, especially this song,” McBryde said in a statement of recording “A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action.” “And then, in my adult life, this song has stayed on my playlist, my bonfire playlist, my go-hang-out-on-a-boat-with-my-friends playlist, or pools or whatever the event is. This is one of my mainstays.”
“What comes with being an artist is, I think, the full package. I think Dolly Parton is another one. I think [Toby’s] up there with her in the way where he is a full performer all the time,” Langley said in a statement. “Everywhere he goes, and onstage, he gives 100% of himself. When he’s writing a song, he gives 100% of himself. I think that’s what it takes to be an artist like Toby Keith: giving your all, letting your fans in, and seeing who you are as a human being, because we’re just human beings at the end of the day. Whether it was through being onstage or being in a writers’ room, he just told the truth and was honest about what he believed in. It’s inspiring.”
Several of these artists have covered Keith songs in the past year at various events and on social media. In May, Green teamed up with Randy Houser to perform “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” during the Sand in My Boots festival. Meanwhile, Moroney has been seen singing “Who’s Your Daddy?” multiple times in social media videos. Several of the artists, including McBryde, Langley and Green, took part in the Toby Keith tribute concert that aired in August on NBC.
“Toby Keith is a legend and there are so many songs that I love — ‘Who’s Your Daddy’ has become my band and I’s pre-show hype song and it felt like the perfect one to choose to cover!” Moroney said in a statement. “I’m excited to be a part of this series honoring Toby Keith and I hope you love my version as much as we do!”
“It’s one of my favorite Toby songs and one of my favorite country songs of all time,” McCollum added. “I feel like as a songwriter, I’m always trying to write songs from that perspective of the sad, heartbreak love songs about everything going terribly wrong, which this song encapsulates pretty well. You never had to wonder whose song it was when you heard a Toby song, and this one’s at the top of my list in his catalog. It’s an honor to get to do it.”
“That was one of my favorite Toby Keith songs,” Green said of “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” “I think because growing up in Alabama, we didn’t have a lot of cowboys. We didn’t have horses; we didn’t have big, long pastures like they got out in Texas and Oklahoma and all that. For me, that lifestyle of being out on the open range was so foreign to me, but also just seemed cool. I loved that song as a kid.”
“When I hear the word ‘legacy,’ I think of legends, and Toby Keith is definitely one of those legends in my book,” added Wetmore. “Like the old saying goes, legends never die, and neither will his music. Toby Keith’s music, in three words, is legendary, nostalgic, and just something that’ll never grow old.”
In October, Keith was posthumously inducted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, entering prestigious institution alongside John Anderson and guitarist James Burton.
Check out Apple Music’s announcement and get a peek at the cover songs:
