Viewers Slam 2024 CMT Awards' Toby Keith Tribute: 'He Deserved Better'

Toby Keith fans are not happy with the tribute for the late country superstar at Sunday's 2024 CMT Music Awards.

Several country artists took the stage during Sunday's ceremony at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, to pay tribute to Keith, who died of cancer on Feb. 5 at the age of 62.

With support from Keith's longtime backing band, Brooks & Dunn and rocker Sammy Hagar performed some of their late friend's greatest hits, along with Lainey Wilson.

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Following an introduction from baseball legend Roger Clemens, the country music duo kicked off the Toby Keith tribute with a performance of the late artist's 1993 hit, "Should've Been a Cowboy."

Hagar followed it up with a rendition of Keith's 2003 hit "I Love This Bar."

Wilson, who was introduced by Lukas Nelson and Riley Green, then paid tribute to her mentor by performing his 1999 song, "How Do You Like Me Now?!"

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However, some of Keith's fans were left unimpressed by the 2024 CMT Music Awards tribute, with Brooks & Dunn bearing the brunt of the criticism.

One user slammed the duo on X, formerly Twitter, for allegedly forgetting the lyrics to Keith's "Should've Been a Cowboy."

"Shame on @BrooksAndDunn. Learn the words. Toby Keith was a giant. He deserved better than that," the person wrote.

Another fan agreed, commenting: "As a fan of both Toby Keith and Brooks and Dunn, I was disappointed. It wasn't just one screw-up. Yes, Toby deserved better."

A third user called Brooks & Dunn's performance "awful" and suggested that Keith's widow, Tricia Lucas, and children Shelley Covel Rowland, Krystal Keith and Stelen Keith Covel, who were all in the audience that night, might have been "horrified."

"Toby deserved SO much bigger and better!! I know his family had to be horrified," the user claimed.

Another critic shared an image of a dumpster on fire and wrote: "Live footage of [Brooks & Dunn] attempting to sing 'Should've Been a Cowboy.' #pathetic #theyneedtoretire."

Wilson's performance also received mixed reactions online, with some calling her rendition "terrible."

"That would be a no for me," one user commented on Wilson's performance.

However, others praised her, saying she did an "amazing job."

Another fan commented, "Beautiful tribute to @tobykeith."

Many also praised Hagar over his performance of "I Love This Bar."

"Thankful to @sammyhagar and @rogerclemens for the beautiful tributes to our Big Dog Daddy TK," one person commented.

"His song was the best of the entertainment that honored @tobykeith. Thanks," a second fan wrote, while a third supporter said, "It was amazing!!!"

But some still felt that the tribute for Keith was "rushed."

"My thoughts are that the whole tribute was awful. I would have liked to see Toby Keith's band do a tribute on their own. The whole thing was rushed," an X user commented.

The 2024 CMT Music Awards ceremony also featured performances from Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Bailey Zimmerman, Cody Johnson and Old Dominion, among many others.

In addition to the performances, CMT will honor Keith with a one-hour tribute special, tentatively titled "CMT Music Awards Celebrates Toby Keith."

The special premieres on the network Thursday at 10 p.m. EDT.