NASHVILLE, TENN. – Five months since the release of HIXTAPE: Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE, the 17-song collaboration project honoring the life and works of Joe Diffie, Big Loud Records’ HIXTAPE is pulling back the curtain today with a special, once-in-a-lifetime moment caught on tape.
Releasing the “Ships That Don’t Come In” Official Studio Video, out now, the behind-the-scenes clip reveals moving moments as late country giant Toby Keith and Luke Combs recorded vocals for the Diffie staple in Nashville last year. The powerhouse pair’s rendition of the 1992 tune marks Keith’s final recorded vocal, and the clip shows Keith’s last recording session before his passing in February of this year.
“To be on a song with Toby was a no-brainer when it got presented to me. That was something I had always hoped to do but never knew if it would happen or not,” Combs shares. “It being one of Joe’s songs, especially this one, made it even better; he was there the night I got inducted into the Opry and actually gave me my Opry member award. I grew up listening to both of those guys’ music, so to be a part of this version of the song and it now be Toby’s last recording is kind of hard to put into words. Country music misses them greatly, but I hope we’re doing justice to continue what they started.”
Released in conjunction with the Diffie estate, the song features vocals from Diffie captured in 2006 previously unheard prior to DIFFTAPE – the third installment of the HIXTAPE franchise pioneered by Big Loud Records’ HARDY. Embraced by fans and artists alike, critics define “Ships That Don’t Come In” as “a moving coda to Keith’s studio career” (Rolling Stone) and “particularly poignant” (Billboard).
A two-hour concert special honoring the life and music of Toby Keith, Toby Keith: American Icon, aired last night on NBC with viewing available now via Peacock. The star-studded tribute included performances and special appearances by HARDY and fellow HIXTAPE collaborators Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson, and Trace Adkins, among others.
ABOUT HIXTAPE
Both a lifestyle brand and a countrified mixtape of backroad bangers and party-friendly country anthems, HIXTAPE was born in the heart of HIXVILLE – riddled with undeniable humor and teeming with “Redneck Tendencies.” Entirely produced by Joey Moi, the HIXTAPE collection was created by a community, for a community, spurred on by the critical success of HIXTAPE Vols. 1 + 2. Billboard praised the initial project as “infectious,” while The New York Times highlights the “rapscallion-like” tendencies and “shaggy at the edges” style of both collections. Its third iteration, HIXTAPE: Vol. 3: DIFFTAPE is out now, a tribute to and celebration of the iconic catalog of GRAMMY and CMA Award-winning country legend Joe Diffie, with features from 30+ star-studded guests.
ABOUT TOBY KEITH
The familiar maxim of the triple threat – singer, songwriter, entertainer – didn’t begin to cover it for Toby Keith, one of the most prolific self-directed creative forces in country’s modern era. Keith amassed 42 top 10 hits, 33 No. 1s, 44 million albums sold, 100 million BMI performances, and more than 10 billion streams largely on the strength of his own songwriting and producing, and under the banner of his own Show Dog Nashville record label. Among his many accomplishments, the New York based all-genre Songwriters Hall of Fame (2015), the National Medal of Arts (2021), the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (2021), and BMI Icon (2022) were his most treasured. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame shortly before his passing in Feb. 2024.
Toby Keith’s career completed a perfect 30-year circle in the fall of 2023 as he performed “Don’t Let The Old Man In” and received the Country Icon award at the People’s Choice Country Awards. That moment once again had Keith at the center of a viral surge as tens of millions of video views underscored the song’s new and deeply personal meaning. The emotionally supercharged performance received widespread acclaim and drove the song to No. 1 on multiple Billboard and iTunes charts. It also set the table for a triumphant return to full-blown performing at his December 2023 Las Vegas residency.
Inspired by a conversation he had with Clint Eastwood in 2018, “Don’t Let The Old Man In” was later featured in Eastwood’s movie The Mule. It is yet another in a long line of chart-topping, viral, addition-to-the-cultural-lexicon milestones in his career. As a songwriter, this song that he wrote, solo, remarkably mirrors the success of another song that he wrote, also solo, but decades earlier. Of course, that song was his debut single “Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” which propelled him to country music prominence and, eventually, dominance. “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” soon had to compete with scores of his other multi-week chart-toppers as Keith’s signature song. Among them, “Who’s That Man,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!,” “Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American),” “I Love This Bar,” “Beer For My Horses,” “American Soldier,” “As Good As I Once Was,” “God Love Her,” “Red Solo Cup” and “Made in America.” And then, “Don’t Let The Old Man In.”
Astoundingly, one of the most accomplished songwriters in any genre bookended his career exactly the way he’d started it: Sitting down with a guitar, by himself, and writing a song for the ages.
Not insignificantly, his musical acumen was nearly matched by his business acumen – an exceedingly rare left brain-right brain confluence. From his owned and operated record label, golf course and Luck E Strike tackle company to restaurants, movies, horses and a long-running association with Ford Trucks explain how in 2013 he was named “Country’s $500 Million Man” by Forbes. Dozens of other accolades include the Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, Billboard Artist of the Decade and golf’s Arnie Award.
Toby’s most rewarding experiences, however, had come from giving back locally, nationally, and abroad. His annual golf classics fund The Toby Keith Foundation and OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for families of children dealing with critical illnesses. The 20th installment of the charity event raised more than $1.6 million in addition to receiving pledges of $1.5 million for a newly established endowment, bringing its all-in total to nearly $20 million. His 11 USO Tours enhanced the lives of nearly 256,000 troops and military families across 18 countries with more than 285 events, and was recognized with the Spirit of the USO Award (2014). And when a tornado ravaged his hometown, Toby Keith was the face of the community and helped shoulder the cleanup with the 2013 OK Twister Relief Concert. Triple threat? How about singer, songwriter, musician, producer, entertainer, entrepreneur, humanitarian, Oklahoman and patriot.
ABOUT LUKE COMBS
Country superstar and 2x CMA Entertainer of the Year Luke Combs is a multi-platinum, award-winning artist from Asheville, NC.
Adding to an already triumphant career, Combs released his new full-length album, Fathers & Sons, earlier this summer on Columbia Nashville. A collection of 12 poignant tracks, Fathers & Sons features Combs’ most personal songwriting to date, as he reflects on his own experiences being a dad to his two sons and the unique bond between parents and their children. Of the record, NPR Music praises, “he’s going beyond the country realm now and really has become a pop star, a global popstar” while The Wall Street Journal declares, “filled with unexpected warmth and vulnerability…a perfect match for Mr. Combs’s warm and engaging style.”
A Grand Ole Opry member and 11x CMA, 4x ACM, 6x Billboard Music Award-winner, Combs recently became the first country artist to have three singles certified RIAA Diamond as his songs “Hurricane” and “When It Rains It Pours” joined “Beautiful Crazy” in achieving this milestone. He also recently released his current radio single, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma,” which is featured on the soundtrack for the new Twisters movie, is the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and just completed his record-breaking “Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old” stadium tour, which included sold-out, back-to-back shows at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium and Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium among several others.
Additionally, Combs performed an unforgettable duet of “Fast Car” with Tracy Chapman during the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards earlier this year, which Rolling Stone called “one of the all-time best collaborative performances in Grammy history.” The performance added to a massive year for “Fast Car,” as Combs’ version won Single of the Year at the 2024 ACM Awards and 2023 CMA Awards (with Chapman winning Song of the Year). It also spent five-consecutive weeks atop Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart and reached No. 1 on the Hot AC chart, the first song by a male solo artist to ever top both. The 2x Platinum single, which has garnered over 1.1 billion global streams to date, also spent eighteen weeks in the top 5 of Billboard‘s all-genre Hot 100 chart, eight of which were spent at No. 2.
