What Toby Keith's family said about Jason Aldean's 'wonderfully touching' ACMs tribute. Watch it here

Jason Aldean shook the crowd with the singing of his late friend Toby Keith's "Should've Been a Cowboy" on the Academy of Country Music stage on Thursday night. And Keith's family was touched by the tribute.

The Covel family thanked Aldean for his, "wonderfully touching performance at the ACM Awards tonight. It was the perfect tribute to Toby Keith." The country artist died after a battle with stomach cancer on Feb. 5. He was 62.

Aldean's acoustic performance of Keith's 1993 number one hit, was highlighted with photos of Keith through the years.

Aldean told The Tennessean's Marcus K. Dowling before the show that he was honored to be a part of honoring one of his heroes.

"I am glad to do something for Toby and honor him with a song I've played pretty much my whole career from the time I started playing clubs to even now," Aldean said. "Toby was a big influence for a lot of us in the business, so it was an honor for them to call me and ask me to be a part of it and honor him."

Watch Jason Aldean's Toby Keith tribute

The Academy of Country Music released a YouTube video of the touching tribute by Aldean. Watch it below.

How did Toby Keith die?

Keith died of stomach cancer earlier this year.

He told the world of his stomach cancer diagnosis in June of 2022, saying he had been receiving radiation, chemotherapy and surgery for six months. "I am looking forward to spending this time with my family. But I will see the fans sooner than later," he said via Instagram. "I can’t wait."

His diagnosis didn't slow him down. Keith kept continued to appear at various events and even recorded an album just months before his death.

Marcus K. Dowling contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Toby Keith's family responds to 'touching' Jason Aldean tribute