Paying a Visit to the New Keith Whitley Memorial
With his death on May 9th, 1989, Keith Whitley never got to reap the rewards of the career he’d worked so hard to build. He was just 34 years old. Whitley’s passing remains one of the most tragic deaths in country music history.
After Keith Whitley’s death, he was laid to rest at Nashville’s Springhill Cemetery just north of downtown. Numerous other country music legends are buried at the cemetery, including Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, Kitty Wells, Jimmy Martin, Jan Howard, John Hartford, Earl Scruggs, and others, making it a destination spot for country fans looking to pay their respects to legends. Keith Whitley already had a proper headstone that he shared with widow Lorrie Morgan at the cemetery.
But in 2022, an effort was undertaken to erect a memorial that would incorporate the “weeping angel” design at Whitley’s final resting place. This was the same year it was announced that Whitley would be going into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
“My family and I are so happy at the prospect of seeing this monument in Keith’s honor,” said Lorrie Morgan at the time. “I would be so moved to see it installed the same year that he is finally made a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and I’m deeply touched by those who care so deeply about Keith’s memory and legacy.”
A donation drive was launched, but unfortunately was not very successful. This might be the reason it took multiple years for the Keith Whitley Memorial to be completed. But in June of 2025, it finally unveiled with Lorrie Morgan helping to dedicate it.
Unlike the previous headstone, Lorrie Morgan does not share it with Whitley. In fact, there are very few markings on it at all. It simply says “Whitley,” and doesn’t even have his birth and death date. However, it is more of a proper memorial as opposed to a headstone.
A Kentucky native, 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. His 1985 album L.A. to Miami put Keith Whitley on the map with songs like “Miami, My Amy,” “Ten Feet Away,” and “Hard Livin’.” Then Keith’s 1988 record Don’t Close Your Eyes set him on the path to 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.”
Without the work Keith Whitley did do, there may have never been a “Class of ’89” with Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Clint Black, and Travis Tritt. This is the reason that when Garth Brooks was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, he first tried to cede the honor to Keith Whitley, and later said that if he was in, Whitley should be in too.
Keith Whitley’s grave is located at:
Spring Hill Cemetery
5110 Gallatin Pike,
Nashville, Tennessee 37216
As you enter the Spring Hill Cemetery, the bulk of the country music graves are in the very first section ahead of you called “Hill Crest Garden.” Jimmy Martin’s grave is just over your right shoulder (southwest) in the “Veteran’s II” section. The memorials are large, and can’t be missed.
To locate Keith Whitley, pull into Spring Hill from Gallatin Pike, take a left, then take the second right like you’re going to the cemetery office. Follow this path past the Masonic section on your left (clearly marked), until the road dead ends into another road. Right in front of you where the road dead ends is the “Crestview” section of the cemetery where Keith Whitley is. There is a large tree, and he is just to the right of it.
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September 4, 2025 @ 1:05 pm
This article sure did make my eyeballs sweaty,.
September 4, 2025 @ 3:18 pm
Glad there’s a Keith Whitley memorial.The man passed in 1989,so perhaps a new generation of Country fans can learn about this great who died FAR,FAR too young.
September 4, 2025 @ 6:23 pm
I was/am a Keith Whitley fan. I saw him for the last time on Sunday, September 4th, 1988 at the legendary Sunset Park in West Grove, Pennsylvania. It was his second show of the day at 8pm. He had a 3pm show earlier in the day, but I was a paramedic at the time and had to work my 8am-6pm shift that Sunday. There was a small crowd, maybe 200 people under the outdoor, metal-roofed pavilion and Keith and his band were good.
After the show I went to my car to get the four album covers of the albums that Keith had released at that time to get autographed. I talked to Keith outside his tour bus and he autographed my album covers. He said, “you have two copies of this album.” He was referring to the album L.A to Miami. I explained to him that album was released twice with a few different songs added. He said, “I didn’t know they did that.” During our talk and his signing one of his crew yelled from the area of his souvenir table to ask if he was going to sign autographs and Keith responded, “No, I signed after the first show.” When he finished signing my covers I thanked him and went on my way as Keith Whitley climbed aboard his tour bus. Eight months later on the afternoon of May 9th, 1989 I cried like a baby when the DJ on WDSD in Dover, Delaware broke the news of his passing.
I still have the signed covers with the pristine vinyl 37-years later and miss him dearly.
September 14, 2025 @ 12:44 am
Thanks for the great story. fyi. Keith mentions the changes made of songs released on the L.A. to Miami album at the Mr.Lucky’s concert , It was in October of 86. It’s at around the 18 minute mark during set #1 if you are interested. Maybe he had forgot about it a few years later.The video is on YouTube. Thanks again for sharing!
September 14, 2025 @ 12:52 am
Sorry. It’s at 28 minute mark. It’s when he is introducing I Wonder Where You Are Tonight.
September 5, 2025 @ 7:24 am
Strange that there isn’t any identifying info with birth & death dates but this is a beautiful memorial.
September 5, 2025 @ 9:10 am
Grew up listening to him and his voice is still so comforting to hear because it holds so many memories. Big part of the soundtrack to my life. So tragic that he passed so young.
September 5, 2025 @ 8:19 pm
I appreciate the sentiment behind it, but I don’t love the lack of identifying info (though they could always add it). I always found something very meaningful and touching when double stones or plots are planned by young widows, and if it came down to it, I honestly think he would have preferred being interred next to Lorrie for eternity versus a fancier monument
September 6, 2025 @ 8:57 am
I really liked the original except for the fact it was under a tree and always ended up with mud all over it after a big rain. Something else to consider is that Lorrie may not intend to be be buried there any longer and preferred a stone without her name on it. No matter my opinion, the family had the final say, and I’m glad they were able to get something they liked.
At first glance it looks like a family-plot style monument that would be supplemented by separate markers for individual graves like Roy Acuff’s family, but it doesn’t seem like there are enough open plots in the vicinity.
September 9, 2025 @ 12:49 pm
Great observation on it looking like a family marker. I had forgotten and had to check again, but it’s of note that George “Candy Kisses” Morgan is buried there too
September 6, 2025 @ 1:09 pm
I personally preferred the previous headstone, but I guess that, for whatever reasons, the family preferred this new one.