Keith Urban’s Unexpected First Encounter With Toby Keith Was Hilarious

When Keith Urban was a fresh face on the Nashville scene in the '90s, Toby Keith cut one of his earliest songs. In a recent Taste of Country Nights interview, Urban reveals what Keith said to him when they first met, and it's hilarious.

When I asked him if he could share a Toby Keith story, Urban immediately lit up and started chuckling. The "Messed Up as Me" singer delivered a story like none other.

"I have a lot of Toby Keith stories," Keith said. "I had written a song with a buddy of mine, it was a Christmas song, this was in early '90s, mid '90s. I had just moved to town, and we heard that Toby Keith had cut this song, recorded this song that we wrote. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, Toby Keith, that's pretty cool man, it's freakin' Toby Keith.'"

"I'm down lower Broadway, which ain't what it is now, we're talking about '90s," Keith continues. "I'm in this bar and I look up in the corner, and there's Toby Keith sitting on his own drinking in the corner. I said to a friend of mine, 'That's Toby Keith, I'm going to introduce myself,' ya know?"

As you can imagine, seeing Keith, a now Country Music Hall of Famer, just chilling in a bar alone would be a total shock to your system. A young Urban was nervous to approach.

"I went over, and I go, 'Toby, hi. My name is Keith Urban, and I think you recorded a song I wrote. The song is called, "Jesus Gets Jealous of Santa Claus,"' okay?"

Urban, realizing that the song was quite the novelty record, said, "It was never gonna get cut, so we were thrilled that he recorded it."

RELATED: Why Toby Keith Is Right for the Hall of Fame

"Toby's had a few, and he looks at me, kinda surly, and he goes, 'Huh?'" Keith continues. "I said, 'Oh, I think you recorded a song we wrote.' And he goes, 'Yeah.' I said, 'Oh, did you like the song?'"

In true Toby Keith fashion, Urban describes Keith's attitude toward the budding songwriter.

"He goes, 'We cut it, man.' And I went, 'Yeah, no, I mean thank you so much. You obviously write a lot of songs, it's unusual for you to cut an outside song, did you like the song?' And he goes, 'We cut it, man.' And then he went back to his drink, and I just walked away."

That isn't where their story ended, though. Urban circled back and described one more epic Keith memory that stuck out in his head.

"Luckily, I got to meet him years later, and we had the best time. I rode on his tour bus for his 40th birthday, it was a hell of a memory because we pulled into a Steak 'n Shake at about 3AM. Sitting in a booth with Toby, eating Steak 'n Shake, it was fantastic."

Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. He plays the best new country music and interviews today's top stars, like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, + more!