Toby Keith's children, Lainey Wilson, Trisha Yearwood honor him on CMT Music Awards red carpet

The late Toby Keith's three children — his daughters Shelley Covel Rowland and Krystal Keith Sandubrae and his son Stelen Covel — made the trip from Oklahoma to Texas at attend the CMT Music Awards Sunday, April 7 in Austin.

In a red-carpet interview alongside her siblings, fellow Norman-based singer-songwriter Krystal Keith said that her father, who was born Toby Keith Covel, was "exactly who you'd expect him to be on and off the stage."

"His stats say everything, but he was a genius in music — and I think people are starting to know that now that they're hearing all those stats," she said.

"I think people thought he was just an artist, and now they're learning that he was so much more than that in his songwriting and production. ... So, I think that is the thing that would shock most people is just the sheer volume of catalog he has."

Keith died Feb. 5 at the age of 62 after a multi-year battle with stomach cancer. Over the course of his 30-year country music career, the Oklahoma native scored 42 top 10 hits, including 32 No. 1 songs, sold more than 40 million albums and garnered more than 10 billion streams, largely on the strength of his own songwriting and producing and under the banner of his own Show Dog Nashville record label.

Away from the stage, Krystal Keith said her father, who will be posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October, was a family-oriented parent and grandparent.

"Our kids called him Pop Pop, and he took them fishing — and all the great things that made him as great off the stage as he was on the stage," she said.

Lainey Wilson, Brooks & Dunn and Sammy Hagar play Toby Keith hits during CMT Music Awards tribute

Sunday's CMT Music Awards included a 13-minute all-star tribute to Keith that featured his longtime band. Introduced by baseball legend Roger Clemens, the homage kicked off with Country Music Hall of Famers Brooks & Dunn crooning Keith's 1993 debut single "Should've Been a Cowboy," followed by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar performing "I Love This Bar."

Singer-songwriters Lukas Nelson and Riley Green then introduced Lainey Wilson, who brought her feisty attitude to her cover of Keith's chart-topper "How Do You Like Me Now?!" Clemens was visibly emotional by the time he led the crowd on and off the stage — as well as the audience watching the live CBS broadcast — in raising their red Solo cups and toasting Keith with "whiskey for my men and beer for my horses," a nod to another of the Oklahoman's hits.

On the red carpet, Keith's son said he thought his father would be excited about the tribute.

"He made some amazing music throughout his career, and it's amazing that we get to see that come to fruition and see his due given," Stelen Covel said on the red carpet.

Lainey Wilson, Trisha Yearwood and Billy Bob Thornton remember Toby Keith at the CMT Music Awards

On the CBS telecast, Keith's children were shown wiping away or blinking back tears multiple times during the tribute in his honor.

From the red carpet, Wilson said it was a big honor to be invited to pay homage to Keith on the CMT Music Awards.

"Honestly, I don't know of anybody in this business that does not love Toby and couldn't say that he influenced them in some kind of way," Wilson said. "He was truly the soundtrack to my childhood."

On the red carpet, country music superstar and former Owasso resident Trisha Yearwood, who received the inaugural June Carter Cash Humanitarian Award during the show, remembered when Keith invited her and her husband, fellow country music icon Garth Brooks, to perform at the 2013 Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert.

"Garth and I both knew Toby pretty well. ... He was so great to his fans and so great to his friends, and that's actually what I'm most excited about tonight is to see his band as part of this tribute and hear the music. I love the music, and I think it's fitting that we pay tribute to him," Yearwood said on the red carpet.

Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton echoed the sentiment, saying "God bless Toby Keith" before presenting the final award, video of the year, to Jelly Roll for “Need A Favor."

CMT is planning a new one-hour standalone special with the working title "CMT Music Awards Celebrates Toby Keith." The celebration of his most memorable moments from the awards show is scheduled to premiere at 9 p.m. Thursday, April 11 on CMT.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Toby Keith's kids, Lainey Wilson honor him on CMT Music Awards red carpet