Hixtape Releases Moving Toby Keith/Luke Combs Clip Of ‘Ships That Don’t Come In’

The “Ships That Don’t Come In” video, featuring behind-the-scenes moments of late country giant Toby Keith and Luke Combs recording vocals for the Joe Diffie classic, has been released by Big Loud Records’ Hixtape project.
The powerhouse pair’s rendition of the 1992 tune marks Keith’s final recorded vocal, and the clip shows Keith’s last recording session in Nashville before his passing in February. The release of the special, once-in-a-lifetime moment caught on tape comes just five months since the release of Hixtape: Vol. 3: Difftape, the 17-song collaborations project honoring the life and works of Diffie.
“To be on a song with Toby was a no-brainer when it got presented to me. That was something I had always hoped to do but never knew if it would happen or not,” Combs shares. “It being one of Joe’s songs, especially this one, made it even better; he was there the night I got inducted into the Opry and actually gave me my Opry member award. I grew up listening to both of those guys’ music, so to be a part of this version of the song and it now be Toby’s last recording is kind of hard to put into words. Country music misses them greatly, but I hope we’re doing justice to continue what they started.”
The two-hour concert special honoring the life and music of Keith, Toby Keith: American Icon, on NBC that aired earlier this week featured a portion of the footage from the now-treasured studio session.