Toby Keith was honored on the CMT Music Awards on Sunday on the Moody Middle in Austin, Texas.
Keith died on Feb. 5 after a battle with abdomen most cancers. He was 62.
Roger Clemens launched the tribute to his “true buddy and patriot,” adopted by a set with Brooks & Dunn taking part in a traditional Keith hit, “Ought to’ve Been A Cowboy.”
TRIBUTES POUR IN FOR TOBY KEITH, LEGENDARY ‘COURTESY OF THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE’ SINGER DEAD AT 62
Sammy Hagar sang a rendition of the 2003 hit, “I Love this Bar,” for his longtime consuming buddy. Earlier than breaking out into track, Hagar remembered the nice ol’ days with Keith.
“Toby and I, we spent a variety of time in Cabo collectively over time,” he mentioned.
CMT MUSIC AWARDS: LAINEY WILSON, KELSEA BALLERINI AND JANE SEYMOUR SHINE ON THE RED CARPET
“I imply we closed the Cabo Wabo down much more occasions than we even keep in mind. It is onerous to get thrown out of your personal bar, and we managed to do this.”
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Lainey Wilson introduced it house with a rendition of “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” from Keith’s 1999 album.
Earlier on the purple carpet, Wilson mentioned, “I do not know anyone on this enterprise that does not love Toby.”
She added, “He was actually the soundtrack to my childhood… Seeing all of his stuff and all of the visions that he had come to life, it made me really feel like there’s nothing improper with being fearless, there’s nothing improper with going in opposition to the grain and standing up for what you imagine in and being unapologetically your self.”
Clemens had tears in his eyes as he raised a purple solo cup to toast to Toby on stage, “Whiskey for my males and beer for my horses.”
A sea of purple solo cups sprang up within the air for one closing crowd send-off to Keith.
WATCH: LAINEY WILSON SHARES HOW TOBY KEITH INSPIRES HER
The Oklahoma-based nation music star was finest recognized for his 1993 hit track, “Ought to’ve Been a Cowboy.” His breakout hit was performed three million occasions on radio stations and have become probably the most performed nation track of the ’90s.
Amongst his 20 No. 1 Billboard hits had been “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “As Good As I As soon as Was,” “My Checklist” and “Beer for My Horses,” a duet with Willie Nelson.
Fox Information Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
