Jelly Roll and T-Pain Rocked The House On NYE With Toby Keith Cover

When Toby Keith passed away in early 2024 after a long and brave cancer battle, the country music world mourned. Toby’s decades-long career led to dozens of hit songs and numerous awards for his contributions to country music. You never heard a bad word about Toby. His fellow artists loved and respected him. They were also big fans of his music. Toby Keith served as an inspiration to many artists, including Jelly Roll. The hip-hop country artist decided to pay tribute to Toby in Nashville on New Year’s Eve, and his performance rocked the house. It was certainly one that would’ve made Toby Smile.

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The pair hit the stage during Nashville’s Big Bash at Bicentennial Park on New Year’s Eve. Jelly Roll played music before closing his set with an incredible cover of Should’ve Been a Cowboy. His cover was filled with twang and soul, and the crowd went wild as he and T-Pain belted out the Toby Keith classic.

Jelly Roll told Variety before releasing the cover that he went to Toby’s son, Stelen, who gave him his blessing.

“Toby’s son saw me at the CMTs and took me to the side and said, ‘Hey man, I want to let you know I’ve seen a video of you covering this song, and I think it’s one of the best versions of it ever. And I think you honor my father.’ And it just meant so much to me,” Jelly Roll explained.

He added that he chose T-Pain because he also had a connection to Toby Keith.

“He was telling me the story about how the only time he’s ever done something big in the country space, at the CMT Awards, he was presenting with Toby [in 2009]. And he was just talking about just how awesome Toby was just as a human and how Toby made him feel comfortable and was cracking him up before they went out,” Jelly Roll said.

Proceeds from the cover will go to the Toby Keith Foundation.  

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