RIP Toby Keith. Dont Let The Old Man In by Tommy Lee Thornsbury

Tribute to the late Toby Keith.. We woke up to that sad news that Toby Keith had passed away he fault to the very end.... never forget me standing in the front of the stage watching you sing I should have been a cowboy, I was singing along with you and singing loud, people started turning and watching me sing with you. you looked down right at me and my wife, I dont know if you could hear or just seeing what was going on..... RIP Brother......

History
Toby Keith met actor-director Clint Eastwood at a charity golf tournament in Pebble Beach, California, in 2018. At the time, Eastwood was working on his film The Mule. Keith told Billboard that he was surprised by the energy Eastwood seemed to have despite being 88 years old at the time, at which point Eastwood remarked, "I don't let the old man in". Keith liked this line and immediately wrote the song, which is a ballad about a man dealing with his increasing age. He was also inspired by an anecdote told to him by his grandmother, about a friend of hers who did not know her exact age due to her not owning a birth certificate. Billboard writer Cathy Applefield Olson described the song as "at once emotionally resigned and quietly triumphant".Olson also thought that the song's central theme of old age was appropriate to the plot line of The Mule, which is about an elderly person becoming a drug courier. Soon after writing, Keith recorded a demo which he submitted to Eastwood. Keith was sick the day he recorded the demo, creating a "raspy, sleepy, tired, sick vocal". Eastwood liked the recording and decided to put it in The Mule, feeling that the raspy delivery fit the mood of the song and the movie.

Keith also produced a music video for the song, directed by Michael Salomon.

On September 28, 2023, five years after the song's original release, Keith performed the song at the 2023 People's Choice Country Awards after being awarded the Country Icon award. The performance was one of his first following his diagnosis with stomach cancer the previous year.[4] Following the performance, the song was reissued as a single to country radio with an impact date of October 30, 2023.