Introduction:
Stephen Colbert Pays Emotional Tribute to Toby Keith: “Thank You, Big Dog”
As the lights came up on another episode of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert greeted his audience with his usual warmth, exchanging laughs with Louis Cato and the house band. But the tone soon shifted. Just minutes into the broadcast, Stephen shared a piece of news that had left him — and countless fans around the world — stunned.
“Last night,” Colbert said, his voice softening, “we lost one of the greats. Country music legend Toby Keith passed away at the age of 62.”
Though fans had known of Toby’s battle with stomach cancer, his death still felt sudden. “I was shocked,” Colbert confessed. “I’d been hoping we’d hear from him again — maybe even see him on this stage one more time.”
Their connection wasn’t the most obvious pairing. “We met years ago on The Colbert Report,” Stephen recalled. “Back then, I had a bit of a reputation for going hard on some of my guests. And I had some sort of plan for Toby — probably about that ‘boot-in-your-ass’ song.” But just before stepping onstage, Colbert had a moment of reflection. “I looked at my shoes and thought, ‘What are you doing? He’s your guest — make him feel welcome.’”
That decision changed everything. “We hit it off immediately,” Stephen smiled. “And evidently, Toby enjoyed it too.” After the show, as Keith passed Colbert in the hallway, he paused, grinned, and said, “Hey, man. You do a great job — whatever the [bleep] it is you do.” It was such a perfect Toby Keith moment that Colbert’s head writer later had the quote embroidered on a pillow. “It’s been in my office ever since.”
From that moment on, Colbert said he stopped pre-judging his guests — a lesson he credits to Toby. “He taught me to walk in with intention, but keep my eyes open to who someone really is.”
The tribute continued with admiration for Keith’s journey — from working on Oklahoma oil rigs and playing semipro football to topping the country charts for over 30 years. “Twenty number ones. Forty-two top tens. Walls full of platinum. Toby wasn’t just a hitmaker — he was a force,” Colbert said. “He was bold, brash, patriotic, funny, even controversial — but always real. He wrote the truth of people’s lives, and they loved him for it.”
Toby’s legacy wasn’t limited to music. “He was in our Christmas special. He gave me this guitar, right here,” Colbert said, pointing behind him. “My son plays it now. I hope he thinks of Toby every time he strums.”
One of Colbert’s proudest moments came when he was asked to induct Toby into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. “I even sang ‘As Good As I Once Was,’ which I used to listen to before every show. Toby loved how unlikely a duo we were. I did too. We were like a duck and a horse becoming best friends — and for the record, I was the duck.”
Toby, he added, always had the power to surprise. “You thought you had him figured out — and then there he was, giving Obama a standing ovation during his Nobel speech. Toby taught me not to box people in. And with his passing, I’m reminded how important that lesson is.”
In closing, Colbert offered a heartfelt call for unity: “Tonight, I don’t care who you are or where you stand. I will meet you at this place — the place of being broken-hearted that Toby Keith is gone.”
He looked into the camera, his voice firm but tender.
“Thank you, Big Dog.”