Toby Keith’s performance of “Don’t Let the Old Man In” at the People’s Choice Country Awards (Sept. 28) propelled the song and music video into the No. 1 spot on the iTunes country songs and video charts and into the No. 3 position on the all-genre charts.
Keith, who has been battling cancer, was in attendance to accept a Country Icon award. His performance of “Don’t Let the Old Man In” was the most powerful and moving of the evening. E! News noted “there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” and Billboard described it as the most impactful performance of the evening.
On the red carpet, Keith told NBC’s Backstage Live he chose the song to sing “well, mainly because I’ve been going through my cancer fight for the last couple of years, and it’s really inspiring for a lot of people. And coming back on TV for the first time and performing live in front of a live audience, I thought it was fitting.” He wrote the song for the 2018 Clint Eastwood film The Mule.
Though the live performance of “Don’t Let the Old Man In” at the inaugural People’s Choice Country Awards was Keith’s first time back on television since his cancer diagnosis, he has stated that he wants to get back out on the road and see his fans and is working hard to make that come true.
On Nov. 3, Keith will release a new project titled “100% Songwriter,” a selection of 13 of many of his most iconic solo-written songs. Pre-orders are available at TobyKeith.lnk.to/songwriter.
