Surging country music star Zach Bryan paid tribute to the late Toby Keith with an emotional rendition of “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” at a pre-Super Bowl concert.

After a lengthy battle with stomach cancer, the country icon passed away earlier this week at the age of 62. “He fought his fight with grace and courage. Please respect the privacy of his family at this time,” reads a statement released by the seven-time Grammy winner’s family.

Keith’s tragic passing came as a surprise to the general public, as he recently stated that he was feeling much better in a radio interview. He spoke about how thrilled he was to have been able to perform his shows and told fans that he expected to be playing more events in the future.

His death was met with tributes from across the country music world the day news broke, including from Zach Bryan. “Too many rides in my old man’s car listening to Toby Keith. really hard thing to hear,” Bryan wrote in an X post on February 6. “Rest in peace friend we love you.”

Bryan also defended Keith after a fan took issue with his patriotic music. “This pretentious stuff is so annoying man,” Bryan said. “Man made a living off of many great songs. His patriotic shit related to the people when it did for a reason, that’s a great songwriter. Celebrate it instead of making everything negative begging.”

Bryan continued his tribute to the country icon with a rendition of Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” while performing at a pre-Super Bowl concert in Las Vegas on Saturday. “America lost a really, really important Oklahoma boy this week,” Bryan said as he introduced the performance, which was a massive hit with the crowd./Source:trendingpoliticsnews