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Thomas Rhett: What He Learned From Toby Keith

Thomas Rhett learned a lot about honoring and supporting our active-duty military and our veterans from a guy who did it on an extraordinary level – Toby Keith. He got…

Thomas Rhett is posing on a red carpet wearing a white cowboy hat and a denim suit with a bolo. Toby Keith is on stage playing guitar in a brown cowboy hat and a plaid shirt.
Jason Kempin, Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Thomas Rhett learned a lot about honoring and supporting our active-duty military and our veterans from a guy who did it on an extraordinary level – Toby Keith. He got to watch Toby do it every night, and Thomas developed his own deep appreciation for those who serve our country, and why it is so important that we always remember everything they do for our country.

Rhett told us as Veteran's Day approaches next week (11/11), "I got a really big dose of playing for military folks and retired vets when I was out on tour with Toby Keith. That was my first year of touring, and so that was the first time I’d ever been introduced to playing for people like that. And when talking about our troops, it’s just one of those things where you’re very, very thankful for what they do for you."

He added, "I think a lot of the time, most of the time, we take for granted living in a free country. And a lot of the time we don’t stop to think about who is actually protecting our freedom because a lot of them technically aren’t in our country, they’re in other countries fighting for us so that other countries aren’t fighting against us."

Rhett has achieved enough success in his career that he could afford to hire someone to do most of the chores or work around his house, but Thomas actually enjoys cleaning, and he especially enjoys doing manly things out in his yard.

Rhett told us in a recent interview, "I love yard work and I love cleaning period, and I used to hate it. I think 2020 kind of forced me to be a little bit of a 'clean freak.' And so to this day, not in the wintertime, but when it’s summertime, I love getting to wash me and Lauren’s cars."

Thomas continued with a smile, "And when trees fall down in our yard there’s nothing I love better than going to Home Depot and buying some gas and some oil and puttin’ it in a chainsaw and just going to town. Gettin’ an axe, cuttin’ up firewood, like I love that stuff."

The singer is doing various one-off dates this month and then a few shows in December. He kicks off his 2025 tour next year in June in Rogers, Arkansas.

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.