Krystal Keith Says Listening to Dad Toby Keith's Music 'Constantly' Helps Her 'Hold onto the Gratitude' (Exclusive)

'Toby Keith: American Icon' is airing on NBC on Wednesday, Aug. 28 from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT and will stream the following day on Peacock

When the tribute concert special Toby Keith: American Icon airs tonight on NBC, fans will see the late country legend’s daughter, Krystal Keith, give an emotional performance of his song “Don’t Let the Old Man In.”

She’ll hit the stage alongside stars like Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan — but Krystal tells PEOPLE that her decision to join the fun was something she had to think long and hard about. And that song choice? That was a tough sell, too.

“I was thinking, ‘OK, I can make it through a party song.’ But when [producers] approached me with [‘Don’t Let the Old Man In’], I was like, ‘Well crap, I already cry with that song, just listening to it. I don’t know how I’m going to sing it,’” she says of the song, a poignant rumination on death that her father sang in his final public performance. “I’m glad they did, though, because it turned out really special. I think that he would’ve been proud of it.”

Toby, who died of stomach cancer in February at age 62, had plenty to be proud of when it came to his family, which includes Krystal, 38, daughter Shelley, 44, son Stelen, 27, and Tricia, his wife of 40 years.

Related: Carrie Underwood Honors Toby Keith with 'A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action' at Tribute Concert (Exclusive)

Though Krystal says the concert special “may have come a little sooner” than she and her family were hoping, as they’re still wary of being thrust into the spotlight, she knows it’s also something that would’ve made her dad proud, as everything came together as “authentically Toby Keith” as possible.

“The team decided to have a bar on stage. There’s a huge American flag. The military is involved,” she says. “It really epitomizes who he was and hits all of the things he loved in his life: his family, his foundation, his music and the military.”

The two-hour special will feature performances from Underwood, Bryan, Eric Church, Ashley McBryde, Lainey Wilson, Darius Rucker and more, all performing Keith’s biggest hits with their own special spin.

“He was an, ‘Aw shucks, this is not necessary’ kind of guy,” says Krystal. “He wouldn’t want us to have this big thing for him, but he would also be honored that those artists took time out of their schedules and made that happen and honored him in such a way and said such nice words about him.”

For Krystal, having such a large body of work to turn to when she’s missing her dad has been an invaluable source of comfort amid her grief. She says she and her young daughters Kirby, 5, and Hensley, 8, listen to Toby’s music “constantly,” as it helps them feel close to him.

“The thing that got me to gratitude as opposed to just feeling sorry for myself was Ashley Campbell. When Glen Campbell died, she mentioned that she felt lucky to have his body of work and that she would be at a store and his voice would randomly come on the radio, and that she had all these songs and these lyrics and interviews and things she could look back to, and how grateful she was of that,” says Krystal. “I thought, ‘That’s a great way to look at it.’ Not everybody has that. I try to hold onto the gratitude there.”

A portion of the ticket sales from the concert, which was filmed in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, will benefit The Toby Keith Foundation’s OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home for families of critical pediatric patients, and will go toward Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, a top children’s hospital in Nashville.

For Krystal, knowing the show had a “purpose” made everything worth it, as Toby was all about helping others.

“I think a majority of the good deeds he did will never even be known, because he loved doing it behind closed doors,” she says.

Related: Toby Keith's Daughter Accepts His Honorary University of Oklahoma Degree 3 Months After His Death

Krystal misses her father “a hundred times a day,” often at unexpected times, like when she stops into a small-town dive bar.

“Those were his favorite,” she says. “I would call him on the road and be like, ‘Hey, I'm in this random city. Where do I eat?’ It could literally be any random, tiny town in America and I promise you he’s been there, and he’s eaten there, and he knows exactly where to go. Those times are really the times that it hits me.”

Her siblings live nearby, and the kids have been able to band together in order to make sure their mom Tricia is doing OK; Krystal says they agreed to take “shifts” in the days after losing their patriarch to make sure Tricia wouldn't have to sleep alone.

Still, if she could speak to her dad today, Krystal would assure him that his family is doing just fine.

“[I’d tell him] that we’re all going to be OK. I think he knew that,” she says. “He told us that we’d be OK, but just to know that he knows we’re going to be OK would be great.”

Toby Keith: American Icon is airing on NBC on Wednesday, Aug. 28 from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT and will stream the following day on Peacock.

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