Keith Whitley Is Newest Inductee into Country Music Hall of Fame
Songwriter and performer Keith Whitley is the newest inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the Modern Era category. This was the news from the press conference Tuesday morning (5-17) from the Country Music Hall of Fame rotunda, hosted by Brooks & Dunn.
Keith Whitley was inducted with Jerry Lee Lewis in the Veteran’s Era category, and RCA Records Executive Joe Galante in the non-performer category. Whitley’s widow Lorrie Morgan was on site to accept the honor on his behalf.
“I heard Keith Whitley sing for the first time in 1982. I was on my way to the Grand Ole Opry. From that day on we were together … Keith never knew how good he was,” Lorrie Morgan said. “He never accepted that he could have a great record deal … He would be absolutely blown away if he were here. He would be saying that surely they got it wrong. That’s how humble he was.”
Keith Whitley started in country music as a member of Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass band, and later join J.D. Crowe and his band The New South. The Kentucky-based bluegrass band released three successful albums during Whitley’s tenure before he moved to Nashville in 1983, and signed a record deal with RCA. Keith Whitley’s first major record was a 1984 EP called A Hard Act To Follow, and it didn’t fare too well. Released right before the neotraditional movement that would sweep country music in earnest on the backs of guys like Randy Travis and George Strait, A Hard Act To Follow was deemed to be too country. “Too country?” Whitley remarked at the time, “What business am I in?”
But the 1985 album L.A. to Miami, which took a bit more of a pragmatic approach put Keith Whitley on the map with songs like “Miami, My Amy,” “Ten Feet Away,” and “Hard Livin’.” The soaring voice of Keith Whitley spoke to many. Then Keith’s 1988 record Don’t Close Your Eyes set him on the path to downright superstardom, landing him his first #1 hit with the title track, which would set off a succession of five straight #1 songs from Whitley, including signature songs “When You Say Nothing At All” and “I’m No Stranger to the Rain.”
However on May 9th, 1989, Keith Whitley died of what was ruled as alcohol poisoning, and he never got to reap the rewards of the career he’d worked to build. He was just 34-years-old. The short nature of Whitley’s career has resulted in some arguing that his legacy was not Hall of Fame worthy. But it isn’t the amount of hits or the longevity of Whitley’s career that has now put him in the Hall. It was the influence he left on country music that was ultimately deemed to be Hall of Fame caliber.
Many give credit to Keith Whitley for helping to set the table for country music’s landmark “Class of ’89” that would take country music to a peak in popularity. Garth Brooks specifically named Whitley as someone he believed should have been inducted before him when Brooks received the distinction in 2012. “Look, I don’t think I deserve this at this time, you know,” Garth said. “My generation’s shot at Haggard and Jones was Keith Whitley. Keith needs to be in here.”
And now he is.
Whitley’s work with Ralph Stanley and The New South also can’t be overlooked when regarding his Hall of Fame career.
To get into the Country Music Hall of Fame, you also need a good, dedicated push and a promotional campaign that can get the attention of the right people on the committee. That is what fans of Keith Whitley had put together over the last few years. A group named “Induct Keith Whitley into The Country Music Hall of Fame” has started a campaign to try and get the Kentucky-born singer and songwriter. It set up an online petition and is asking Keith Whitley fans to add their voices and signatures in support of the effort. Whitley widow and fellow performer Lorrie Morgan has also been a steadfast supporter of preserving Keith Whitley’s legacy, as has his son Jesse Keith Whitley.
Now all of that hard work has paid off. Keith Whitley will be officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in a Medallion Ceremony to be held later this year.
May 17, 2022 @ 8:27 am
Good news and long overdue.
May 17, 2022 @ 8:35 am
Great news for the legacy of Keith Whitley. I’m a huge fan of his music and honestly thought he’d never get in due to the relatively short length of his career. I understand the argument against his induction, but it feels like the HoF got this right.
May 17, 2022 @ 9:59 am
I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve always figured it might come later than sooner, mainly due to a short solo career and limited number of hits. But, it appears the grassroots movement to get him in was quite successful. Look at this as a win for quality, talent and influence. Jesse Keith and Lorrie are smiling today!
May 17, 2022 @ 8:39 am
Absolutely deserved. Congratulations Keith – you left quite a legacy.
May 17, 2022 @ 8:59 am
Great news! Long overdue. To me, this is a great day for traditional country music in general. My hope is that his election to the HOF will introduce more people to his music & will take “saving” country music to the next level. There’s never been a better country music vocalist than Keith Whitley.
May 17, 2022 @ 9:22 am
Completely agree. What a voice he had. It’s a shame that he is so forgotten among many outside of traditional country fans
May 17, 2022 @ 9:42 am
Congratulations to the Whitley family, long overdue and IMO and many others, the greatest voice in country music. With this induction I can’t help but think of the guys who have helped keep Keith Whitley’s music alive, sadly the guys who did not get much opportunity on country radio. Ken Mellons, Kevin Denney, Tom Buller, Wesley Dennis, Chris Caskey etc. Guys who have kept me believing in country music.
May 17, 2022 @ 9:46 am
The Sandy Koufax of modern Country Music. A short run but virtually supernatural in quality.
May 17, 2022 @ 10:17 am
Good news he had some great songs.
May 17, 2022 @ 10:58 am
FINALLY, now we can stop the ad nauseam posts about how Whitley deserves to be in the HOF.
But, he sure was a heck of a singer. Kudos to his family.
Was hoping for Dwight Yoakam and a surprise invite to the great Gene Watson. Maybe next year.
It sure would help if the CMHOF woudl get off their butts and include more nominees each year, at least for awhile. Oh well.
May 17, 2022 @ 11:28 am
Wiyne, You are the only person posting “ad nauseam” about Keith getting in the HOF. You have posted almost identical comments the last four articles on Keith. FINALLY you can quit obsessing about this, and hopefully come up with some new material.
May 20, 2022 @ 8:10 am
Wayne,
Dwight definitely deserves to already be in.
May 17, 2022 @ 12:30 pm
Hallelujah it was way past due but so well deserved!!!
May 17, 2022 @ 12:38 pm
Thanks for reading my posts jimincincy.
May 17, 2022 @ 1:23 pm
Keith Whitley! That should be a nice ceremony with Lorrie Morgan. Looking forward. He had a lasting and meaningful impact on country music and is well deserving.
May 17, 2022 @ 1:42 pm
So glad to hear Keith is getting in. He deserved it more than anyone in my opinion and also very pleased to hear about Jerry Lee. I think you meant to say Keiths daughters name was Morgan, not Lorrie.
May 17, 2022 @ 3:40 pm
Long time overdue. And so deserved. Keith Whitley would have shined like a neon light had he not earned his wings so soon.
May 17, 2022 @ 6:07 pm
I bet Tanya Tucker’s pissed.
May 17, 2022 @ 7:36 pm
It’s a year away, but at the moment, I’d put Tanya Tucker’s chances of being the 2023 Veteran’s Era inductee at about 75%. Just like Jerry Lee Lewis and Hank Jr. before, she’s now the induction the Hall of Fame is chasing.
May 17, 2022 @ 10:22 pm
Tanya Tucker was scoring hits in the ’90s, after Keith Whitley was dead. Yes, she goes back to the early ’70s as a young teenager with “Delta Dawn,” but I’d be willing to bet that she would give anything to go into the H-o-F as a modern era artist and would consider induction in the veteran category to be a weak consolation prize. Tanya’s 3 and a half years younger than Reba McEntire, 3 and 5 years younger than Brooks & Dunn, and 1 week older than Alan Jackson. It means a lot to a woman–and a man, too–to be seen as still vibrant, rather than old. And, as a practical matter, it affects their earning power.
May 17, 2022 @ 11:51 pm
it amazes me that if keith whitley was still alive, he’d be younger than rodney crowell.
May 18, 2022 @ 6:13 pm
No disrespect to Keith but she damn well should be! Tanya had big hits for three decades. She’s long overdue for induction. It’s insane people who didn’t start recording until the late 80’s are in and she, a major star from 1972, is not.
I frankly feel the HOF is much harsher in judging the women who had messy private lives like Tanya and Lynn Anderson than the guys. Jerry Lee was not kept out all these years because of his private life but because his personality – to him, to paraphrase the famous line from his biopic, Nashville, like England, could kiss his ass. Certainly the messy private lives of Glen Campbell and Lefty Frizzell did nothing to keep them out the HOF.
May 19, 2022 @ 2:11 am
@Tom–Interesting points you make. Now that you mention it, I remember that there was a period in the ’80s when Tanya seemed to be a regular character on the front page of the “supermarket checkoul line” publications like the National Enquirer, for her personal relationships, so maybe that has hurt her with the Hall. About all I know about Lynn Anderson is “Rose Garden” and that she had a daughter Liz and I tend to confuse the two of them.
An artist who seemed to be blackballed from the Hall for many years was Webb Pierce, who had more #1 hits than anybody in the 1950s.. No one ever came out and said why, but I kind of gleaned from what was written that there were questions about his sexuality.
May 22, 2022 @ 5:02 pm
Lynn Anderson had a really messy divorce in the late 1980’s from her multi-millionaire second husband, it was all over the news. I remember some old bat writing in one of the country music magazines went after Lynn saying she was “making country music look bad” which was pretty audacious given the cheating, male drug addicts this woman used to praise to the skies in her column. (Also, Liz was Lynn’s mom, a 1960’s country singer and very famous songwriter who wrote a lot of hers and LIZ is incredibly not in the Songwriter’s Hall of fame).
Have never heard any rumors about Webb’s private life, I do know he was long married and with kids. He did have a notorious rep for having a big ego when he was on top (well, he was the biggest hitmaker of the 50’s as you noted) and even after but I think like Jerry Lee he never bit his tongue or kissed butt and thus probably pissed off more than a few insiders. It was long rumored one particular powerful person at the CMA or HOF board always made sure the possibility of Pierce being elected was shot down when it came up, apparently this person had quite an ego himself given how could you not elect the biggest star of his era.
Tanya is the highest rated person in Joel Whitburn 1993’s Billboard country singles book on the “All time Chart champs” list who is not yet in the HOF. Jerry Lee was right behind her and at long last is in. The current top five stars on that list not yet in the HOF – all placing among the top 50 on that list of 400 stars are Tanya, Crystal Gayle, David Houston, Mickey Gilley, and Lynn Anderson.
May 17, 2022 @ 7:43 pm
While I personally think others should have gotten in before him, I have zero issue with him being in. To me it shouldn’t take grass roots initiatives for most people to get in but with someone like Keith who had a very short career even counting his bluegrass time I can see it. I just wish that they did a better job of getting those most deserving in there first, it’s really a joke.
May 18, 2022 @ 6:27 am
David: The Duke,
Exactly. But this has been debated ad…. “oops.” Almost did it again jimincincy. I am trying though.
May 17, 2022 @ 8:28 pm
Thrilled with this honor for Keith Whitley!
Q
May 18, 2022 @ 6:31 am
Truly a great day for those of us that have treasured Keith. His voice rolled over the radio in the 80’s and stopped you in your tracks as you reached to turn the volume up. I will never forget those days, I will listen to his albums until I can’t anymore. Thank you Keith and Congratulations. To his family, God bless all of you. Thank you for allowing us to share in this and celebrate what we new long ago, Keith Whitley is truly the gifted Kentucky Bluebird that will sing for generations to come.
May 18, 2022 @ 8:15 am
One of the great voices in country music. Hopefully John Anderson soon……another of the truly great voices in country music.
May 18, 2022 @ 9:00 am
Cool about Keith. Too bad there are still many deserving to be included as well. This gives me hope that someday Vern Gosdin, Gary Stewart, Mel Street, and Gary Stewart could possibly follow. Hey, a guy can wish, right?
May 18, 2022 @ 10:48 am
Lorrie Morgan Whitley is Keith
Whitleys’ wife not his daughter.
Loved keiths’ music.
May 18, 2022 @ 9:54 pm
Keith was special. Some version of his music has been in my constant rotation since the first day I heard him 3 decades ago. Tapes, CD, ipod etc… different songs at different times. He has always been my favorite from that era. My 17 YO daughter has become a big fan and turned me on to some of his deep cuts, which Is really neat to see. Ive heard his name referenced more and more recently and it seemed to me he was having a bit of a resurgence. I agree that it is long overdue and well deserved.
May 20, 2022 @ 6:56 am
He is by far the greatest country singer in my opinion to ever live though he had a very short career once he got big time His influence on country music will never be matched… Too bad we won’t get to see the other songs he could’ve released Rest in peace Keith Whitley
June 5, 2022 @ 7:40 am
Very happy about this. Congratulations to Keith and his family, and thanks to the Hall of Fame’s voting committee for getting this done.