Krystal Keith is opening up about one of the most special gifts her father, the late Toby Keith, gave her. Krystal shared a clip on social media of her singing “Beautiful Weakness,” from her freshman Whiskey & Lace record, which features her father’s vocals on it as well.
“Not many people know, but my dad produced AND made a cameo on my debut album, and it’s one of my most prized possessions because of the work we did together to bring it to life,” Krystal writes, sharing a clip of the song. “I’m so lucky to get to listen to our voices together for eternity. And as luck would have it, listening to it is exactly that, a beautiful weakness for me.”
View this post on Instagram
Toby passed away on February 5 from stomach cancer. A few days later, Krystal shared her thoughts on growing up as the daughter of one of country music’s most legendary acts.
“I am shattered,” Krystal began. “As great as he was in his career, he was so much greater as a dad and a husband and a Pop Pop. He was my hero. I am so lucky to have had him and so grateful he got to walk me down the aisle and meet my babies. That I have years of memories traveling the world as a family. I am blessed that I got to spend years traveling on the road and singing on stage with him. That I have mountains of video footage and endless tracks of music to watch him on and hear his voice with.
“I’m lucky I got to say goodbye and tell him what he meant to me … He was the world’s,” she continued. “He is the gift that we were, as a family, able to offer the world and he did not squander our sacrifice of time with him. He lived a hundred lives of accomplishments and impact in people’s lives. There is so much he did for people that no one knew about, even us. He didn’t want recognition for doing good deeds, he just did them because his heart led him to or someone needed him to.”
View this post on Instagram
“I will forever honor him,” she concluded. “The pain is so unbelievably deep and it feels like I have a literal broken heart but I know that it wouldn’t hurt so bad if we didn’t love him and get to be loved so deeply by him. He never made me wonder if he would be there for me. He made sure to live with Jesus so he could go with Jesus. Jesus taking him home is the cherry on top of the life we got to live with him.”
Krystal recently performed “Don’t Let the Old Man In,” to close out the televised special, Toby Keith: American Icon, She was part of an all-start list of performers that included Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Jelly Roll, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Darius Rucker, Lainey Wilson and more.
Toby Keith: American Icon will air on NBC on August 28 at 9:00 PM ET, and stream the next day on Peacock.