Keith Whitley
Encyclopedia
Jackie Keith Whitley known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music
singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters. He charted nineteen singles on the Billboard
country charts, including five consecutive Number Ones: "Don't Close Your Eyes
", "When You Say Nothing at All
", "I'm No Stranger to the Rain
", "I Wonder Do You Think of Me
" and "It Ain't Nothin'
" (the last two posthumously).
, but grew up 46 miles away in Sandy Hook
, and attended Sandy Hook High School. He had two brothers, Randy and Dwight, and a sister, Mary. The Whitley family has lived in the Elliot County area since the 1840s.
As a teenager in Sandy Hook, Keith and his friends would pass the time drinking bootleg
bourbon
and racing their cars down mountain roads at dangerous speeds. Whitley was once in a car whose driver attempted to round a curve at 120 mph. The car wrecked, killing his friend and almost breaking Whitley's neck. In another incident, he drove his car off a 120 foot cliff into a frozen river, escaping with only a broken collar bone.
, with brother Dwight on five-string banjo. Future country-music star Ricky Skaggs
was also in the contest. Skaggs and Keith hit it off right away and became fast friends.
As teenagers, Whitley (15) and Skaggs (16) were discovered by Ralph Stanley
while they were singing Stanley Brothers' songs as an opening act for the Clinch Mountain Boys. The two soon joined Ralph's band. Whitley also played with J.D. Crowe & the New South
in the mid-seventies. During this period, he established himself as one of the most versatile and talented lead singers in bluegrass. His singing was heavily influenced by Carter Stanley
and Lefty Frizzell
. He moved to Nashville in 1983 to pursue a country music career and soon signed a record deal with RCA Records
.
Whitley's first solo album, A Hard Act to Follow, was released in 1984, and featured a more mainstream country style. While Whitley was working hard to achieve his own style, the songs he produced were inconsistent. Critics regarded the album as too erratic. Whitley honed his sound within the next few years for his next album, L.A. to Miami.
L.A. to Miami, released in 1986, would give him his first Top 20 country hit single, "Miami, My Amy". The song was followed by three more hit songs: "Ten Feet Away", "Homecoming '63", and "Hard Livin'", The album also included "On the Other Hand
" and "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her
". "On the Other Hand" was pitched to Keith before Randy Travis
released the song as a single and when Keith's version wasn't released as a single, Randy released his in 1986, as did George Strait
with "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her".
During his tour to promote L.A. to Miami, he met and began a romantic relationship with country singer Lorrie Morgan
. The pair were married in November 1986, and they had their only child, a son, Jesse Keith Whitley, in June 1987. Keith also adopted Lorrie's daughter, Morgan, from her first marriage.
During the new recording sessions in 1987, Whitley started feeling that the songs he was doing were not up to his standards, so he approached RCA and asked if the project of 15 songs could be shelved. He asked if he could assert himself more with the songs and production
. The new album, titled Don't Close Your Eyes, was released in 1988, and the album sold extremely well. The album contained one of the many songs that Whitley had a hand in writing in his years at Tree Publishing, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Also on the album was a remake of Lefty Frizzell
's classic standard "I Never Go Around Mirrors," and the song became a huge hit at Whitley's concerts. The first three singles from the album—"When You Say Nothing at All," "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," and the title cut—all reached number 1 on Billboard Magazine's country charts during the fall of 1988 and the winter of 1989, with the title track "Don't Close Your Eyes" being ranked as Billboard's No. 1 Country song of 1988. Shortly thereafter, "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" also earned Whitley his first and only Country Music Association
award as a solo artist.
In early 1989, Keith approached Sony Music Nashville chairman Joe Galante with the intention of releasing I Never Go Around Mirrors as a single. Joe approved of the musical flexibility that Keith achieved with the song; however, he suggested that Keith record something new and more upbeat. The result was a song Keith had optioned for his previous album called I Wonder, Do You Think of Me?, and was to result in his next album release.
, who started drinking early in his career at bluegrass gigs, long before he was legally allowed to drink alcohol
. Many times he had tried to overcome his alcoholism, but failed. Whitley preferred to drink alone, making it difficult for anyone to detect that he had a problem. According to Lorrie Morgan
, she tried to hide alcohol from him, even going as far as binding their legs together before going to bed so as to make it impossible for Whitley to wake up in the middle of the night to consume a drink without her knowledge - only to find out that he would drink things such as perfume and nail polish to get intoxicated.
Whitley had lost both his father Elmer and his brother Randy (October 1983 motorcycle accident), in the five years preceding his death.
On the morning of May 9, 1989, after a weekend of drinking and partying with friends, Whitley woke up and spoke with his mother, Faye, briefly on the phone. He was then visited by his brother-in-law, Lane Palmer, and the two had coffee and planned a day of golf, after which Whitley had planned to start writing songs for him and Lorrie Morgan to possibly record when she returned from her tour. His brother-in-law departed at approximately 8:30 a.m., informing Whitley to be ready within an hour. Upon returning, Palmer found Whitley face down on his bed, fully clothed.
The cause of death was acute ethanolism (alcohol poisoning), and Davidson County
medical examiner Charles Harlan stated that his blood alcohol level was .477 (the equivalent of 20 1-ounce shots of 100-proof
whiskey and almost five times over the then Tennessee level of 0.1 legal intoxication limit, and nearly six times over the current .08 legal limit to drive). Whitley was 34 years old.
The day after his death, Music Row
was lined with black ribbons in memory of Whitley. He is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery
in Nashville, Tennessee
.
. The album was released three months after his death, on August 1, 1989. The album produced two more #1 hits, with the title track and "It Ain't Nothin'." "I'm Over You" also saw the Top 5 in early 1990, reaching No. 3.
Two new songs were added to "Greatest Hits": The first, "Tell Lorrie I Love Her" was written and recorded at home by Whitley for Morgan, originally intended as a work tape for Whitley's friend Curtis 'Mr. Harmony' Young to sing at Whitley's wedding. The second was "'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose", a 1987 demo taken from Tree that originally featured harmony vocals by childhood friend Ricky Skaggs
. Lorrie Morgan, with creative control and license to Whitley's namesake, recorded her voice alongside Keith's, and released it as a single, which rose to No. 13 and won them 1990's CMA award for Best Vocal Collaboration.
RCA also released a compilation of performance clips (from his days in the Ralph Stanley-Fronted Clinch Mountain Boys), interviews, and some previously unreleased material under the title "Kentucky Bluebird". The album produced hits for Whitley as well, including a duet with Earl Thomas Conley
, named "Brotherly Love," which peaked at No. 2 in late 1991.
In 1994, Whitley's widow, Lorrie Morgan
, organized several of Whitley's friends in bluegrass and some of the big names in country at the time to record a tribute
album to Whitley. The album included covers of Whitley's songs from artists such as Alan Jackson
, Diamond Rio
, and Ricky Skaggs
. The album also included several previously unreleased tracks recorded by Whitley in 1987. One of the songs was a duet that Lorrie and Keith did in 1987 called "I Just Want You". The tribute album credited Whitley with another award for reaching more than 500,000 copies. However, the hit single to come from the tribute album was Alison Krauss & Union Station
's rendition of "When You Say Nothing at All
", which was a #3 hit for her that year.
In 1995, the album Wherever You Are Tonight was released, produced by Lorrie Morgan, featuring restored demos of 1986-1988, with crisper 1990s recording techniques and a full orchestra. The album and single of the same name both did very well on the Billboard and R&R charts and brought "Super Hits" and "The Essential Keith Whitley" in 1996. "The Essential" contained the remastered and long since unavailable LP and Whitley's debut, the 6-Track "A Hard Act to Follow", and a scrapped song from 1986's "LA to Miami", "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight".
In 2004, songwriter Jeff Swope began writing a film treatment for a biopic concerning Keith's life and death that was shelved in 2006. On April 13, 2010, he announced that pre-production was set to begin again, pending investors.
In the last 10 years, several film projects depicting Keith's life were slated. One idea was a film version of the George Vescey-Lorrie Morgan-penned "Forever Yours, Faithfully". While Morgan's book was a benchmark in piecing together Whitley's final moments, perhaps the most research went into a project titled "Kentucky Bluebird", which was to star writer/actor/director David Keith
. This project has been in development hell
for several years, and was halted in late 2006 also, after difficulties with casting and funding.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters. He charted nineteen singles on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
country charts, including five consecutive Number Ones: "Don't Close Your Eyes
Don't Close Your Eyes (song)
"Don't Close Your Eyes" is a song recorded by country music artist Keith Whitley. It is the third single released from his 1987 album of the same name. It peaked at number-one in the United States, and #2 in Canada. Additionally, it was Billboard's number-one country single of the year 1988...
", "When You Say Nothing at All
When You Say Nothing at All
"When You Say Nothing at All" is the debut solo single by Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The song was recorded in 1999 for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. It also appeared on Keating's debut solo album, Ronan. The song was released on July 26, 1999 in the United Kingdom. It peaked...
", "I'm No Stranger to the Rain
I'm No Stranger to the Rain
"I'm No Stranger to the Rain" is a song recorded by country music artist Keith Whitley. It is the fifth and final single released from his 1987 album Don't Close Your Eyes. It peaked at number-one in both the United States and Canada. Joe Diffie covered the song on Whitley's 1995 tribute album...
", "I Wonder Do You Think of Me
I Wonder Do You Think of Me (song)
"I Wonder Do You Think of Me" is the title of a song written by Sanger D. Shafer and recorded by Keith Whitley. "I Wonder Do You Think of Me" was Keith Whitley's fourth number one on the country chart. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country...
" and "It Ain't Nothin'
It Ain't Nothin'
"It Ain't Nothin" is a 1989 country music single made famous by Keith Whitley. His fifth and last No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, the song was his second posthumous chart-topper, reaching the top of the chart seven months after his death....
" (the last two posthumously).
Early life
Whitley was born to Faye (editor of The Elliott County News) and Elmer Whitley (an electrician) in Ashland, KentuckyAshland, Kentucky
Ashland, formerly known as Poage Settlement, is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 21,981 at the 2000 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the...
, but grew up 46 miles away in Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 678 people, 292 households, and 167 families residing in the city. The population density was 716.1 people per square mile . There were 332 housing units at an average density of 350.7 per square mile...
, and attended Sandy Hook High School. He had two brothers, Randy and Dwight, and a sister, Mary. The Whitley family has lived in the Elliot County area since the 1840s.
As a teenager in Sandy Hook, Keith and his friends would pass the time drinking bootleg
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
bourbon
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
and racing their cars down mountain roads at dangerous speeds. Whitley was once in a car whose driver attempted to round a curve at 120 mph. The car wrecked, killing his friend and almost breaking Whitley's neck. In another incident, he drove his car off a 120 foot cliff into a frozen river, escaping with only a broken collar bone.
Musical career
In 1969 he performed in a musical contest in Ezel, KentuckyEzel, Kentucky
Ezel is an incorporated community in Morgan County, Kentucky, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 460 west of the city of West Liberty, the county seat of Morgan County. Its elevation is 945 feet...
, with brother Dwight on five-string banjo. Future country-music star Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
was also in the contest. Skaggs and Keith hit it off right away and became fast friends.
As teenagers, Whitley (15) and Skaggs (16) were discovered by Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...
while they were singing Stanley Brothers' songs as an opening act for the Clinch Mountain Boys. The two soon joined Ralph's band. Whitley also played with J.D. Crowe & the New South
J.D. Crowe & The New South
J. D. Crowe & The New South is an album by American banjo player J. D. Crowe and The New South, released in 1975 . It was reissued on CD in 1992....
in the mid-seventies. During this period, he established himself as one of the most versatile and talented lead singers in bluegrass. His singing was heavily influenced by Carter Stanley
Carter Stanley
Carter Glen Stanley was a bluegrass music lead singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitar player. He formed the Stanley Brothers band together with his brother Ralph. The Stanley Brothers are generally acknowledged as the first band after Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys to play in the bluegrass genre...
and Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
. He moved to Nashville in 1983 to pursue a country music career and soon signed a record deal with RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
.
Whitley's first solo album, A Hard Act to Follow, was released in 1984, and featured a more mainstream country style. While Whitley was working hard to achieve his own style, the songs he produced were inconsistent. Critics regarded the album as too erratic. Whitley honed his sound within the next few years for his next album, L.A. to Miami.
L.A. to Miami, released in 1986, would give him his first Top 20 country hit single, "Miami, My Amy". The song was followed by three more hit songs: "Ten Feet Away", "Homecoming '63", and "Hard Livin'", The album also included "On the Other Hand
On the Other Hand
"On the Other Hand" is a country music song written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz. First recorded by Keith Whitley on his 1985 album L.A. to Miami, it was later released as a single by Randy Travis. It was the lead-off single to his 1986 album Storms of Life, and it peaked at #67 in the United...
" and "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her
Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her
"Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her" is the title of a song written by Dean Dillon and recorded by American country singer George Strait in 1986....
". "On the Other Hand" was pitched to Keith before Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
released the song as a single and when Keith's version wasn't released as a single, Randy released his in 1986, as did George Strait
George Strait
George Harvey Strait is an American country music singer, actor, and music producer. Strait is referred to as the "King of Country," and critics call Strait a living legend. He is known for his unique style of western swing music, bar-room ballads, honky-tonk style, and fresh yet traditional...
with "Nobody in His Right Mind Would've Left Her".
During his tour to promote L.A. to Miami, he met and began a romantic relationship with country singer Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
. The pair were married in November 1986, and they had their only child, a son, Jesse Keith Whitley, in June 1987. Keith also adopted Lorrie's daughter, Morgan, from her first marriage.
During the new recording sessions in 1987, Whitley started feeling that the songs he was doing were not up to his standards, so he approached RCA and asked if the project of 15 songs could be shelved. He asked if he could assert himself more with the songs and production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. The new album, titled Don't Close Your Eyes, was released in 1988, and the album sold extremely well. The album contained one of the many songs that Whitley had a hand in writing in his years at Tree Publishing, "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Also on the album was a remake of Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell
Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
's classic standard "I Never Go Around Mirrors," and the song became a huge hit at Whitley's concerts. The first three singles from the album—"When You Say Nothing at All," "I'm No Stranger to the Rain," and the title cut—all reached number 1 on Billboard Magazine's country charts during the fall of 1988 and the winter of 1989, with the title track "Don't Close Your Eyes" being ranked as Billboard's No. 1 Country song of 1988. Shortly thereafter, "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" also earned Whitley his first and only Country Music Association
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...
award as a solo artist.
In early 1989, Keith approached Sony Music Nashville chairman Joe Galante with the intention of releasing I Never Go Around Mirrors as a single. Joe approved of the musical flexibility that Keith achieved with the song; however, he suggested that Keith record something new and more upbeat. The result was a song Keith had optioned for his previous album called I Wonder, Do You Think of Me?, and was to result in his next album release.
Alcoholism and death
Whitley was a longtime alcoholicAlcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, who started drinking early in his career at bluegrass gigs, long before he was legally allowed to drink alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
. Many times he had tried to overcome his alcoholism, but failed. Whitley preferred to drink alone, making it difficult for anyone to detect that he had a problem. According to Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
, she tried to hide alcohol from him, even going as far as binding their legs together before going to bed so as to make it impossible for Whitley to wake up in the middle of the night to consume a drink without her knowledge - only to find out that he would drink things such as perfume and nail polish to get intoxicated.
Whitley had lost both his father Elmer and his brother Randy (October 1983 motorcycle accident), in the five years preceding his death.
On the morning of May 9, 1989, after a weekend of drinking and partying with friends, Whitley woke up and spoke with his mother, Faye, briefly on the phone. He was then visited by his brother-in-law, Lane Palmer, and the two had coffee and planned a day of golf, after which Whitley had planned to start writing songs for him and Lorrie Morgan to possibly record when she returned from her tour. His brother-in-law departed at approximately 8:30 a.m., informing Whitley to be ready within an hour. Upon returning, Palmer found Whitley face down on his bed, fully clothed.
The cause of death was acute ethanolism (alcohol poisoning), and Davidson County
Davidson County, Tennessee
Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...
medical examiner Charles Harlan stated that his blood alcohol level was .477 (the equivalent of 20 1-ounce shots of 100-proof
Proof (alcohol)
Alcohol proof is a measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage. The term was originally used in the United Kingdom and was defined as 7/4 times the alcohol by volume . The UK now uses the abv standard instead of alcohol proof. In the United States, alcoholic proof is defined...
whiskey and almost five times over the then Tennessee level of 0.1 legal intoxication limit, and nearly six times over the current .08 legal limit to drive). Whitley was 34 years old.
The day after his death, Music Row
Music Row
Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville, Tennessee that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music, and Contemporary Christian music industries...
was lined with black ribbons in memory of Whitley. He is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery
Spring Hill Cemetery
Spring Hill Cemetery on Gallatin Pike in the Nashville, Tennessee suburb of Madison is the final resting place for some of country music’s legendary performers including:*Roy Acuff, singer, songwriter, music publisher*Floyd Cramer, piano legend...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
Posthumous career
Although Whitley's voice was silenced, his influence on country music has persisted long after his death. At the time of his death, he had just finished work on his fourth and final studio album, I Wonder Do You Think of MeI Wonder Do You Think of Me
I Wonder Do You Think of Me is an album released by country music artist Keith Whitley. It was released in August 1989 by RCA Records, one month after Whitley's death from alcohol poisoning. It peaked at #2 on the Top Country Albums chart, and is certified gold by the RIAA...
. The album was released three months after his death, on August 1, 1989. The album produced two more #1 hits, with the title track and "It Ain't Nothin'." "I'm Over You" also saw the Top 5 in early 1990, reaching No. 3.
Two new songs were added to "Greatest Hits": The first, "Tell Lorrie I Love Her" was written and recorded at home by Whitley for Morgan, originally intended as a work tape for Whitley's friend Curtis 'Mr. Harmony' Young to sing at Whitley's wedding. The second was "'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose", a 1987 demo taken from Tree that originally featured harmony vocals by childhood friend Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
. Lorrie Morgan, with creative control and license to Whitley's namesake, recorded her voice alongside Keith's, and released it as a single, which rose to No. 13 and won them 1990's CMA award for Best Vocal Collaboration.
RCA also released a compilation of performance clips (from his days in the Ralph Stanley-Fronted Clinch Mountain Boys), interviews, and some previously unreleased material under the title "Kentucky Bluebird". The album produced hits for Whitley as well, including a duet with Earl Thomas Conley
Earl Thomas Conley
Earl Thomas Conley is an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1980 and 2003, he recorded ten studio albums, including seven for the RCA Records label. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Conley also charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which...
, named "Brotherly Love," which peaked at No. 2 in late 1991.
In 1994, Whitley's widow, Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
, organized several of Whitley's friends in bluegrass and some of the big names in country at the time to record a tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
album to Whitley. The album included covers of Whitley's songs from artists such as Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
, Diamond Rio
Diamond Rio
Diamond Rio is an American Country music/Christian music band formed in 1984 in Nashville, Tennessee. Since its foundation, the group has comprised the same six members: Gene Johnson , Jimmy Olander , Brian Prout , Marty Roe , Dan Truman , and Dana Williams...
, and Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
. The album also included several previously unreleased tracks recorded by Whitley in 1987. One of the songs was a duet that Lorrie and Keith did in 1987 called "I Just Want You". The tribute album credited Whitley with another award for reaching more than 500,000 copies. However, the hit single to come from the tribute album was Alison Krauss & Union Station
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
's rendition of "When You Say Nothing at All
When You Say Nothing at All
"When You Say Nothing at All" is the debut solo single by Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The song was recorded in 1999 for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. It also appeared on Keating's debut solo album, Ronan. The song was released on July 26, 1999 in the United Kingdom. It peaked...
", which was a #3 hit for her that year.
In 1995, the album Wherever You Are Tonight was released, produced by Lorrie Morgan, featuring restored demos of 1986-1988, with crisper 1990s recording techniques and a full orchestra. The album and single of the same name both did very well on the Billboard and R&R charts and brought "Super Hits" and "The Essential Keith Whitley" in 1996. "The Essential" contained the remastered and long since unavailable LP and Whitley's debut, the 6-Track "A Hard Act to Follow", and a scrapped song from 1986's "LA to Miami", "I Wonder Where You Are Tonight".
In 2004, songwriter Jeff Swope began writing a film treatment for a biopic concerning Keith's life and death that was shelved in 2006. On April 13, 2010, he announced that pre-production was set to begin again, pending investors.
In the last 10 years, several film projects depicting Keith's life were slated. One idea was a film version of the George Vescey-Lorrie Morgan-penned "Forever Yours, Faithfully". While Morgan's book was a benchmark in piecing together Whitley's final moments, perhaps the most research went into a project titled "Kentucky Bluebird", which was to star writer/actor/director David Keith
David Keith
David Lemuel Keith is an American actor and director. He received Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor and New Star of the Year – Actor for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman.-Career:...
. This project has been in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
for several years, and was halted in late 2006 also, after difficulties with casting and funding.
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales threshold) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
CAN Country RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
|||
| A Hard Act to Follow A Hard Act to Follow A Hard Act to Follow is an album by American country music singer Keith Whitley. It was released in October 1984 via RCA Records. The album includes the singles "Turn Me to Love" and "A Hard Act to Follow" and which respectively reached #59 and #76 on the U.S. country singles charts... |
|
— | — | — | |
| L.A. to Miami L.A. to Miami L.A. to Miami is the second studio album by American country music singer Keith Whitley. It was released in October 1985 via RCA Records Nashville. The album includes the singles "I've Got the Heart for You," "Miami, My Amy," "Ten Feet Away," "Homecoming '63" and "Hard Livin'," all of which charted... |
|
26 | — | — | |
| Don't Close Your Eyes |
|
8 | 121 | 10 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Gold |
| I Wonder Do You Think of Me I Wonder Do You Think of Me I Wonder Do You Think of Me is an album released by country music artist Keith Whitley. It was released in August 1989 by RCA Records, one month after Whitley's death from alcohol poisoning. It peaked at #2 on the Top Country Albums chart, and is certified gold by the RIAA... |
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2 | 115 | — |
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| Kentucky Bluebird Kentucky Bluebird Kentucky Bluebird is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Keith Whitley. His first posthumous album, it was released via RCA Records Nashville in September 1991... |
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45 | — | 17 | |
| Wherever You Are Tonight Wherever You Are Tonight Wherever You Are Tonight is the sixth and final studio album release by American country music singer Keith Whitley. It was the second posthumous album of his career. The album consists of ten demos that Whitley recorded, backed with new musical arrangements. The album was released via BNA Records,... |
BNA Records BNA Records, formerly known as BNA Entertainment, is a label group that shares ties with Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville from parent company Sony Music Nashville, which itself is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, BNA features country music acts on its roster... |
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| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | RIAA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US | |||
| 1990 | Greatest Hits Greatest Hits (Keith Whitley album) Greatest Hits is country music artist Keith Whitley's first greatest hits album, released a year after his death. It was released in 1990 by RCA Records. It peaked at #5 on the Top Country Albums chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA. One single was released from it: "'Til a Tear Becomes a... |
5 | 67 | Platinum |
| 1993 | The Very Best of Keith Whitley | — | — | — |
| 1995 | Super Hits | 51 | — | Gold |
| 1996 | The Essential Keith Whitley | — | — | — |
| 1998 | Keith Whitley Remembered…The Encore Collection | — | — | — |
| 2000 | Sad Songs and Waltzes (supplemented re-release of Somewhere Between) |
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| 2002 | RCA Country Legends | — | — | — |
| 2003 | Platinum and Gold Collection | — | — | — |
| 2006 | 16 Biggest Hits | — | — | — |
| 2007 | Keith Whitley: Collections | — | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions |
Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN Country RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
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| 1984 | "Turn Me to Love" | 59 | 57 | Hard Act to Follow |
| "A Hard Act to Follow" | 76 | — | ||
| 1985 | "I've Got the Heart for You" | 57 | — | L.A. to Miami |
| "Miami, My Amy Miami, My Amy "Miami, My Amy" is a single by American country music artist Keith Whitley. Released in January 1986, it was the second single from the album L.A. to Miami. The song reached #14 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
14 | 38 | ||
| 1986 | "Ten Feet Away Ten Feet Away "Ten Feet Away" is the title of a song recorded by American country music artist Keith Whitley. Released in June 1986, it was the second single from the album L.A. to Miami... " |
9 | 16 | |
| "Homecoming '63 Homecoming '63 "Homecoming '63" is a single by American country music artist Keith Whitley. Released in November 1986, it was the third single from the album L.A. to Miami. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
9 | 25 | ||
| 1987 | "Hard Livin' Hard Livin' "Hard Livin" is a single by American country music artist Keith Whitley. Released in 1987, it was the fourth single from the album L.A. to Miami. The song reached #10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.-Chart performance:... " |
10 | — | |
| "Would These Arms Be in Your Way" | 36 | — | Don't Close Your Eyes | |
| "Some Old Side Road Some Old Side Road "Some Old Side Road" is the title of a song written by Roger Ferris and recorded by American country music artist Keith Whitley. It was released in November 1987 as the second single from the album Don't Close Your Eyes. The song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks... " |
16 | 32 | ||
| 1988 | "Don't Close Your Eyes Don't Close Your Eyes (song) "Don't Close Your Eyes" is a song recorded by country music artist Keith Whitley. It is the third single released from his 1987 album of the same name. It peaked at number-one in the United States, and #2 in Canada. Additionally, it was Billboard's number-one country single of the year 1988... " |
1 | 2 | |
| "When You Say Nothing at All When You Say Nothing at All "When You Say Nothing at All" is the debut solo single by Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The song was recorded in 1999 for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. It also appeared on Keating's debut solo album, Ronan. The song was released on July 26, 1999 in the United Kingdom. It peaked... " |
1 | 1 | ||
| 1989 | "I'm No Stranger to the Rain I'm No Stranger to the Rain "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" is a song recorded by country music artist Keith Whitley. It is the fifth and final single released from his 1987 album Don't Close Your Eyes. It peaked at number-one in both the United States and Canada. Joe Diffie covered the song on Whitley's 1995 tribute album... " |
1 | 1 | |
| "I Wonder Do You Think of Me I Wonder Do You Think of Me (song) "I Wonder Do You Think of Me" is the title of a song written by Sanger D. Shafer and recorded by Keith Whitley. "I Wonder Do You Think of Me" was Keith Whitley's fourth number one on the country chart. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country... " |
1 | 1 | I Wonder Do You Think of Me | |
| "It Ain't Nothin' It Ain't Nothin' "It Ain't Nothin" is a 1989 country music single made famous by Keith Whitley. His fifth and last No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, the song was his second posthumous chart-topper, reaching the top of the chart seven months after his death.... " |
1 | 1 | ||
| 1990 | "I'm Over You I'm Over You (Keith Whitley song) "I'm Over You" is a single by American country music artist Keith Whitley. Posthumously released in January 1990, it was the third single from the album I Wonder Do You Think of Me. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. In 2010, country artist Chris Young... " |
3 | 3 | |
| "'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose 'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose "Til a Tear Becomes a Rose" is a single by American country music artist Leon Everette. It was released in 1985 from his Mercury Records album Where's the Fire. His version of the song peaked at number 44 on Hot Country Songs.... " (with Lorrie Morgan Lorrie Morgan In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999.... ) |
13 | 13 | Greatest Hits | |
| 1991 | "Brotherly Love Brotherly Love (Moe Bandy song) "Brotherly Love" is the title of a song written by Jimmy Stewart and Tim Nichols, which has been recorded by Moe Bandy, as well as a duet between Keith Whitley and Earl Thomas Conley.... " (with Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley is an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1980 and 2003, he recorded ten studio albums, including seven for the RCA Records label. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Conley also charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which... ) |
2 | 6 | Kentucky Bluebird |
| 1992 | "Somebody's Doin' Me Right Somebody's Doin' Me Right "Somebody's Doin' Me Right" is a single by American country music artist Keith Whitley. Posthumously released in January 1992, it was the second single from his album, Kentucky Bluebird... " |
15 | 12 | |
| 1995 | "Wherever You Are Tonight" | 75 | — | Wherever You Are Tonight |
| 2000 | "Sad Songs and Waltzes" | — | — | Sad Songs and Waltzes |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||
Music videos
| Year | Video | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | "Homecoming '63" | Arnold Levine |
| 1987 | "Hard Livin'" | |
| 1988 | "Don't Close Your Eyes" | Michael McClary |
| "Honky Tonk Heart" (unreleased) | ||
| "When You Say Nothing at All" | Stephen Buck | |
| 1989 | "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" | |
| "It Ain't Nothin'" | Ethan Russell Ethan Russell Ethan Allen Russell is a photographer, author and video director, mostly of musicians. He is known as "the only rock photographer to have shot album covers for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who."... |
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| 1991 | "Brotherly Love" (with Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley Earl Thomas Conley is an American country music singer-songwriter. Between 1980 and 2003, he recorded ten studio albums, including seven for the RCA Records label. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, Conley also charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, of which... ) |
Jack Cole |