Establishing himself as a lead singer in bluegrass music, Whitley moved to Nashville in 1983 and began his recording career there.
In 1988, his first three singles from his studio album Don't Close Your Eyes, the title song, "When You Say Nothing at All" and "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" were number one hits.
While Whitley was a teenager in Sandy Hook, he and his friends would pass the time drinking bootleg bourbon and racing their cars down mountain roads at dangerous speeds.
[8] [9] Whitley's influences ranged from Appalachian bluegrass performers such as Ralph Stanley to traditional country and honky-tonk musicians such as Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Lefty Frizzell.
Gay, West Virginia, by Ralph Stanley, who was 45 minutes late for a gig due to a flat tire.
[7] Whitley's first solo album, A Hard Act to Follow, was released in 1984, and featured a more mainstream country style.
During his tour to promote L.A. to Miami, he met and began a romantic relationship with country singer Lorrie Morgan.
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.
In early 1989, Whitley approached RCA chairman Joe Galante with the intention of releasing "I Never Go Around Mirrors" as a single.
[4] Davidson County Medical Examiner Charles Harlan stated that Whitley's blood alcohol level was 0.47 (the equivalent of 20 one-ounce shots of 100-proof whiskey).
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.
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.
It included covers of Whitley's songs from artists such as Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, and Ricky Skaggs.
The album also included four previously unreleased tracks recorded by Whitley in 1987, one of which had Morgan dubbed in as a duet partner.
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 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".
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.
[21][22] He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2022;[2] prior to that, he was the subject of an exhibit detailing his life and legacy.
[23] Whitley retains a persistent influence on country artists, including Tim McGraw, Ronnie Dunn, and Dierks Bentley.