Toby Keith Helped Merle Haggard Through One Of His Final Shows
on Feb 20, 2025 • Updated Feb 04, 2026
Merle Haggard Experienced Serious Health Issues In The Months Before His Death
When Merle Haggard needed him, Toby Keith was there. The singer stepped in to help his friend when he struggled to get through what turned out to be one of his last shows.
After Merle was diagnosed with double pneumonia in December 2015, he was forced to cancel the shows he had scheduled for the rest of the month. He hit the road again once he started feeling better, but occasionally canceled more shows.
In February 2016, Merle’s publicist said he wouldn’t perform any shows that month. Despite that, he was determined to go through with his February 6th show at the Mandalay Bay Ballroom in Las Vegas.
Although Merle appeared frail and out of breath, no one ever expected his February 6th concert would be one of his final shows.
Following Merle’s passing exactly two months later, on April 6, 2016, stories started flooding in about the last few months of his life. One particularly touching story came from actor W. Earl Brown, who was at Merle’s Vegas show and witnessed something amazing in the process.
It turns out another major country star was in attendance at the concert that day…Merle’s longtime friend Toby Keith.
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In a Facebook post, W. Earl said that Toby stepped up and stood by Merle’s side to help him through his Vegas show when he ran out of steam.
“Merle was in bad shape,” Brown recalled. “He needed to be in a hospital – not on a stage; but The Show Must Go On. Merle would not take charity from anyone, but he did turn to Toby and say, “How many songs of mine do you know?”
Toby responded, “All of ’em.”
Merle made it through a few songs before he started having trouble. W. Earl said, “he couldn’t draw enough air to sing any longer.” That’s when he welcomed Toby to the sage.
“Toby came out and sang the rest of the show,” W. Earl wrote. “…And the audience, while not realizing it at the time, saw something special. Never speak ill of Toby Keith to me; thanks to him, Merle exited the stage with his dignity intact.”
Toby Keith Stepped Up & Helped Merle Haggard Through His Show
In an interview with a local Oklahoma news station after Merle passed, Toby opened up about helping his friend when he needed him most:
“He looked really frail, and I walked him on the stage and said ‘I’ll be over here. You call me up whenever you need me.’ He made it about eight songs, and he called me up and said, ‘Let’s do something.'”
Once Toby learned about Haggard’s death in April 2016, he took to Twitter to share a heartfelt message in his honor, writing, “The greatest singer songwriter of my lifetime is gone. Thanks for the music and friendship. R.I.P. Hag.“
He shared his message alongside a photo taken of the two of them together at the Vegas show.
Head below to watch a video from Merle’s Vegas show with Toby. Hats off to him for being such a good friend to “The Hag.”
Toby Keith passed away on February 5, 2024, almost exactly eight years after he helped his friend Merle Haggard through one of his last shows. May they both rest in peace.
