'A celebration': Krystal Keith shares details of new TV special 'Toby Keith: American Icon'

Krystal Keith wasn't quite sure she felt up to joining the star-studded lineup for the sold-out charity concert event "Toby Keith: American Icon," but she felt a tug to sing in honor of her late father anyway.

"I went to our team and I said, 'Listen, my heart is pulling me to be a part of this, as hard as I think that's going to be. I don't even know that I can make it through it. But if all of these artists are coming to celebrate him and perform his songs and sing, I feel like it would be almost disrespectful for me not to participate in that. So, I think I need to sing if there's a space for me.' And obviously, they were like, 'Of course, you can absolutely sing. We would love that,'" Krystal Keith told The Oklahoman in a late August phone interview.

An Oklahoma country singer-songwriter like her famous father, Keith said her heart sank when the producers told her they wanted her to perform his emotional ode "Don't Let the Old Man In" for the NBC concert special "Toby Keith: American Icon."

"I was like, 'I was hoping I could get through a fun party song, and that one, I don't know that I can get through.' So, it really took me about a week to wrap my head around whether or not I could perform that and get through it and make him proud without breaking down. I listened to it several times, I played it on the piano and sang along with it, just to see if I could do it justice," she said.

"I just came to, he would want me to do it. He would make fun of me if I screwed it up and I said I couldn't do it. I can do anything I put my mind to, so I'm gonna do it. I just had to get in the headspace of 'OK, I'm a professional, and I've got to get through this song.' ... I started losing it right at the end, but I cried after I sang it, which is about the right time to cry."

Recorded July 29 in front of a sold-out audience at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena, the network television special "Toby Keith: American Icon" will salute the Norman-based superstar who died Feb. 5 at age 62 after a multiyear battle with stomach cancer.

Along with Keith's daughter, fellow Oklahoma superstar Carrie Underwood and country hitmakers Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde, Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson and more came together to perform hits by the late Sooner State superstar and to celebrate his life and legacy.

The two-hour concert special will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock.

Krystal Keith shared with The Oklahoman details of what viewers can expect from the special ahead of its TV debut:

Q: Can you talk about the energy in the arena that night, especially for your family, since several of you were there?

There were a lot of nerves leading up to the event for our immediate family, just because it's always hard during this time. Anytime we have to go out and do something publicly, we feel like we're being kind of put on display. Everybody wants to see our reactions to everything.

So, that was a little bit nerve-wracking, knowing that we were going to be sitting on the stage in a room with that many people and that many eyes on us. Could my mom make it through it? Could we make it through it?

But (producer) R.A. Clark was there, and his team was there, and they really put us at ease. They were like, 'Hey, if you guys are struggling at all and you need to take a break, we've got stuff that we can roll. ... We can shut it down and give you 20 minutes, and then you can come back out when you're ready. Whatever you need, we can make it work.' So, they were really thoughtful about how they treated our family and how our family was respected during this event. So, we were grateful.

Q: Did you feel that the crowd was there to honor your dad?

Yeah, it was really cool. ... I think everyone knows that anything related to my dad is going to be a fun time and going to be a party. So, that was what this was: It was a celebration. We didn't want it to be sad. We were very adamant that it be indicative of what Dad would want and who he was and embody him. So, there was a bar on stage, and people were having a great time.

Every shot of the audience, they're singing everything word for word. ... Those people were true fans, and so it was really cool to get the opportunity to celebrate him with people that have gone to his shows for 35 years and that we've seen on the road. They were coming to celebrate him with us. So, it was really cool to feel that love and feel that energy.

Q: Did it feel fitting to have a military tribute, including the Honor Guard and U.S. Army Band, as part of the show?

You can't have a Toby Keith-themed show without having military components and having the military respected and honored and involved.

Q: Was it important to your family to have a portion of the ticket sales benefit the local Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral and Nashville's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital?

My dad did not love doing award shows and things like that. He wasn't going to go to frivolous things that were just for the sake of an event. So, we felt like if my dad was going ... to participate in something like this, he would want it to benefit the Korral. He would want it to have some philanthropic component to it that made it worthwhile to him, and we were just trying to honor that and continue his legacy.

We've all taken on the role of continuing the efforts of the Kids Korral and shouldering the burden of continuing to grow it and keep the doors open. My dad, when he got diagnosed with cancer, one of the first things he said was, 'If I lose this battle, who's going to take care of those babies?' And he was just really concerned about making sure someone carried that torch, so we really have just decided, me and my siblings, that that's our duty to carry that torch and make sure that we do everything we can to continue that.

Then a lot of those artists reside in Nashville, like Carrie Underwood, who is Oklahoma and Nashville. So, she has a heart for the Kids Korral, and we talked about that with her a lot. She's been incredible to work with all of this. But a lot of the other artists work a lot with Monroe Carell, and Nashville is a second home for our family, as well. So, we just felt like it was a really good way to honor both communities.

Q: The lineup included everyone from established superstars to country music newcomers. What did it mean to have such a cross-section of country artists pay tribute to your dad?

Yeah, and I think there were a lot of artists that we spoke with and invited that wished they could be there that couldn't be there because they were on tour or had family obligations already scheduled. ... It was really indicative of what he meant to them. When you see the show, a lot of the artists came out, and before they would sing, they would talk about what my dad meant to them, or tell a story about the first time they met him, or some impact that he had on them. And that was really special for me.

Q: How was it determined who would sing what song for the show?

As they went to each artist, they would say, 'What song would you like to sing?' And those artists got to choose the song that meant the most to them, and as long as somebody else hadn't already chosen that song, that they would give them that song. Luke Bryan wanted to sing 'Should've Been a Cowboy.' ... Darius Rucker sings 'God Love Her' on his shows out on tour, so that's a song that he's always loved. It's his favorite. He had incredible words to say about my dad, and then he sang that song, because that was the song that meant something to him.

And I think that is the difference between this special and a lot of the tributes you see: Those artists aren't coming in just singing a random song. They actually had some thought and emotion to the song that they chose to sing.

Q: Did the producers say why they thought you were the right person to sing 'Don't Let the Old Man In?'

They explained, they said, 'Listen, I think that you're the only person that can do this song.' I think anybody else that tried to do that song, fans would have compared them to my dad's version of it and my dad's performance of it. And that would have been an unfair comparison, because obviously nobody can do it like him.

So, the only person they felt like that could do that song and carry the sentimental weight of that song without being unfairly criticized would be his daughter. So, I think that made sense to them, the sentimentality. There's just the storyline of 'this is his daughter singing the last song that he sang nationally.'

I think there were a lot of factors, from a production standpoint, that they were looking at, but also it was probably the most meaningful song of their show, being that it had such a big impact not that long ago.

Q: Did it help you having your sister, Shelley, introduce your performance?

Well, they did not warn us, but they surprised everyone with a video of his (Toby Keith's) last studio session, doing the Joe Diffie song 'Ships That Don't Come In.' So, they played that right before my sister had to talk, and I was over ready to go on stage. ... So, we're both crying right as we're both having to walk out on stage.

So, I think it was like a connective, 'Oh crap, we both have to do this.' But we had each other the whole night ... and really got to enjoy it together and be in that moment together.

She's never been on stage. She has never done public speaking like that. They called her and said, 'Hey, we really want you to introduce your sister and and give the thank-you from the family.' ... So I think she did a really good job.

Q: Your family and the Diffie family share close ties, so did it seem right for that video to be part of the show?

That was really special. Joe's dad was actually a bus driver for my dad for years, and his mom and dad would babysit us when we were kids out on the road. My dad would take us out on the road, and so that my mom could watch the show ... Joe Diffie's mom would keep us entertained on the bus. ... We definitely go way back with the Diffie family, and I know that my dad really respected Joe and loved his family.

I think it was maybe just a little bit kismet that that happened ... to be his last studio session.

Q: I saw on Instagram that you wore one of your dad's cowboy hats to perform on the show. Why?

I felt like having a part of him with me. He wore a black cowboy hat in his performances, and in Vegas, he wore a black cowboy hat for his last performances. I just felt like wearing one of his hats was a way to kind of have him with me, just as kind of a symbolic gesture to him. ... I don't know that that was why I was able to get through it, but I made it through it.

HOW TO WATCH

The two-hour concert special "Toby Keith: American Icon" will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28 on NBC and stream the next day on Peacock.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'Toby Keith: American Icon' debuting on NBC: What to expect from show