Keith Whitley, born in Sandy Hook, Kentucky, had a deep-rooted passion for country music from an early age. Although it wasn’t until later that he pursued country professionally, he initially made his mark in the world of bluegrass.
Keith picked up the guitar when he was just six years old. By nine, he was already on the radio in West Virginia. At fifteen, he joined forces with his friend Ricky Skaggs in Ralph Stanley’s band, the Clinch Mountain Boys. Their first recordings came in 1971 on the group’s album Cry from the Cross.
From 1974 to 1977, Keith toured with Ralph Stanley’s band before joining J. D. Crowe and the New South as their lead vocalist at the age of 22. Then, in January 1983, Keith took the plunge into the world of country music, moving to Nashville and signing with RCA. His first album, A Hard Act to Follow, made it onto the Billboard charts, but it was 1986’s L.A. to Miami, produced by Blake Mevis, that truly launched his career. The album featured Keith’s first hit single, “Miami, My Amy,” which reached #14, and three other songs—“Ten Feet Away,” “Hard Livin’,” and “Homecoming ’63”—all made it into the Billboard Top Ten.
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Keith recorded a new album, ready for release in September 1987, but after it was completed, he decided to shelve it. He felt the tracks weren’t strong enough to support his rising career and convinced RCA to let him start fresh with a different producer. Surprisingly, the label agreed.
For the new album, Keith brought in Garth Fundis, known for his work with Don Williams. One of the key reasons Keith chose Garth was because of a demo tape he had provided, which included a song that Keith really connected with—Bob McDill’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes.”
Bob McDill, inspired by a scene in the movie California Suite starring Maggie Smith, wrote “Don’t Close Your Eyes” five years earlier. Fundis introduced the song to Keith in October 1987, and he recorded it the following month. By August 13, 1988, the single release of “Don’t Close Your Eyes” became Keith’s first of five number-one hits on Billboard’s country singles chart—two of those hits came after his passing.
