Lainey Wilson, Sammy Hagar, and Brooks & Dunn Paid Musical Tribute to the Late Toby Keith at the CMT Music Awards!

The top—and final award of the night at the 2024 CMT Music Awards, Video of the Year, went to Jelly Roll for the video “Need a Favor” Cody Johnson, Jelly Roll, and Kelsea Ballerini competed in this category.

Actor Billy Bob Thornton opened the letter and said, “Oh my God!” “Jelly Roll, come up here.” Jelly Roll collected the prize and stated, “Billy Bob Thornton just gave me my third trophy of the night, y’all!” Jelly Roll won Male Video of the Year and Performance of the Year earlier in the evening.

Lainey Wilson, Sammy Hagar, and Brooks & Dunn pay musical Tribute to the late Toby Keith

At the CMT Awards, rocker Sammy Hagar, donning a Toby Keith t-shirt, addressed the audience: “Throughout the years, Toby and I have spent a considerable amount of time in Cabo together. We shut down the Cabo Wabo far more frequently than we can recall. It’s difficult to be ejected from your own establishment, but we succeeded nonetheless.”

After that, Hagar performed the hit by Keith entitled “I Love This Bar.” Hagar, along with Brooks & Dunn and Lainey Wilson, was selected to perform “How Do You Like Me Now?” and “Shoulda Been a Cowboy,” respectively, in a musical tribute to the late Toby Keith.

In remembrance of another Keith composition, the audience (and performers) elevated red Solo cups and joined in with the song.

After the tribute, renowned baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, who had introduced it, returned to the stage and requested that the audience recite “Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses.” As he expressed gratitude to Keith’s children and Keith’s widow for exposing their father to the world, he shed tears.

Toby Keith, best known for his country classic “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” died in February after battling stomach cancer.

Cody Johnson Opens the CMT Awards With a Bang

Cody Johnson kicked off the CMT Music Awards with an explosive performance of his popular song “That’s Texas.”

Related: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Divorce Battle is Nearing the End, What About the Children?

Wearing a button-down shirt, white cowboy hat, and gold belt buckle behind his acoustic guitar, the three-time CMT Music Award winner stormed through a boisterous rendition of the Texas song for a Texas crowd in Austin.

He told The Tennessean before mounting the stage that he hoped his performance would be “electric.” “This is the first time we’ve ever had pyrotechnics on the stage and I like it because it sets the tone,” he told the audience. “This is a celebration. It’s full of energy. Let us all have fun tonight. I get to go a bit wild on stage and hopefully make a few folks uncomfortable about performing after me.”

Midway through the song, Johnson took his microphone and walked out to a stage further out in the audience. Ending with pyros, host Kelsea Ballerini began her monologue, “How about Cody Johnson, y’all?” That is the way to start things out in Texas.”