Keith Whitley's influence cast a powerful shadow across the country music scene during the 1990s. This gifted vocalist and composer in the emerging new country style had only begun to attain major stardom when he died in 1989. Over the following decade, esteem for his work both on record and as a tunesmith kept expanding, thanks to hit covers by other performers and strong Top Ten showings from material issued after his passing.
Kentucky served as both birthplace and childhood home for Whitley, who started singing at a very young age and captured first prize in a talent contest when he turned four. By age eight he had taught himself guitar, and within another year he was performing on a radio station based in Charleston, West Virginia. At thirteen he assembled his initial group, which concentrated exclusively on traditional bluegrass. A few years afterward he launched the Lonesome Mountain Boys alongside high school classmate Ricky Skaggs; the ensemble specialized in Stanley Brothers material and quickly became a regional favorite.
During the late 1960s Ralph Stanley sought to rebuild his band following the death of his brother and longtime partner Carter. Impressed by the talents of Whitley and Skaggs, he invited the pair to join the Clinch Mountain Boys. They accepted right away and began touring with the group in 1970. Whitley remained with the Clinch Mountain Boys for two years, contributing to seven albums total, among them the 1971 release Crying From the Cross, which earned Bluegrass Album of the Year honors.
Whitley departed the ensemble in 1973. For the next two years he moved through several different outfits, some of which leaned toward country rather than bluegrass. He rejoined the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1975 and stayed another two years, during which the band recorded five albums. In 1978 he became a member of J.D. Crowe's New South. Between 1978 and 1982 Whitley appeared on three albums with that group, material that moved between bluegrass and mainstream country; the strongest tracks from this period later appeared on the 2000 CD collection Sad Songs & Waltzes.
After leaving the New South in 1982, Whitley launched a full-time solo career. He signed with RCA Records and issued his first album, Hard Act to Follow, in 1984. The project, devoted to pure honky tonk, found only modest listeners. The next year he delivered L.A. to Miami, a more radio-friendly effort that yielded the number 14 single "Miami, My Amy." Following that track's early 1986 peak, three consecutive Top Ten hits arrived: "Ten Feet Away," "Homecoming '63," and "Hard Livin'." Late in 1986 he wed Lorrie Morgan.
Although L.A. to Miami succeeded commercially, its polished sound dissatisfied Whitley. In 1987 he cut another album in the same vein, yet he ultimately persuaded RCA to set the project aside and pair him instead with producer Garth Fundis. The resulting Don't Close Your Eyes appeared in spring 1988 and confirmed his commercial arrival. Its opening three singles—"Don't Close Your Eyes," "When You Say Nothing at All," and "I'm No Stranger to the Rain"—all reached number one.
On the surface Whitley's career seemed secure, yet alcoholism was creating severe private struggles. On May 9, 1989, he died at age 34 from alcohol poisoning. Shortly before his death he finished his fourth album, I Wonder Do You Think of Me. Released soon afterward, the project produced a number one title-track single, followed by another chart-topper, "It Ain't Nothin'"; a third single, "I'm Over You," reached number three in 1990. Throughout the 1990s RCA issued numerous compilations that repackaged and reissued Whitley's recordings, including previously unheard tracks. In 1990 Lorrie Morgan released an electronically created duet, "'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose," with her late husband; the single climbed to number 13. A tribute album honoring Whitley appeared in 1994.
