Blake Shelton almost cut one of  Toby Keith‘s biggest hits. Early in his career, Shelton went through what he calls a “terrible, inappropriate, stupid rap phase.” At the time, Shelton admits he was going for the shock factor with his made-up raps, which caught the attention of hit songwriter Bobby Braddock, who said he was going to write a song for Shelton, in line with his slightly off-color humor.

“I did it so much that he decided he wanted to write me a rap song and so he went and wrote, ‘I Wanna Talk About Me,’” Shelton recalls on Audacy‘s Totally Private. “And when I heard the song, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this song is so funny!’ I actually cut the song… I said I wanted to put it on my album, so we went in and recorded it.”

Unfortunately, Shelton was unable to release the song, for one now-largely archaic reason.

“Back then, before streaming and being able to tell which songs were going to be a hit… they used to do these focus groups where they’d get a group of people and play a new artist’s album and everybody would vote on the song,” Shelton recounts. “It scored so bad that they said, ‘Not only do we not want this to be your single, we don’t even think you should put it on your album. Why waste a spot on your record if people hate this song so much?’”

Braddock asked if Shelton and his label were sure they didn’t want it. When they gave a firm pass on the song, Braddock took it directly to Keith, becoming a No. 1 hit for him instead.

“I like to think it was meant for Toby… He was just the one guy that could say that [the lyrics] and we would all laugh about it,” Shelton says. “I don’t know that it would have worked like that for me.”

Shelton went on to have plenty of hits of his own at radio, but Keith never let Shelton forget that he passed on what could have been a hit song for him.

“He always used to give me crap about it.,” Shelton reveals “He’d say like, ‘Man, your version must have really sucked.’ Toby was always that way with me.”

 

Keith passed away on February 5, 2024, from stomach cancer. Shelton paid tribute to Keith, when Keith was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Shelton performed a medley of “I Love This Bar” and “Red Solo Cup,” using a red, white and blue guitar that was made for Keith.

It was Shelton who also presented Keith with the People’s Country Icon Award, at the 2023 People’s Choice Country Awards. Keith performed “Don’t Let The Old Man In,” which marked his final televised performance.

“Even though I knew about your battle these last few months I still never imagined this day,” Shelton wrote on social media, after news of Keith’s passing was announced. “Anyone who knew you knows what I mean. You were the toughest man I ever met. Thank you brother for being a friend, a hero and an inspiration. There will never be another Toby Keith.”