Keith Whitley
Country music has a long-running, and some would say troubling, connection with alcohol. There’s the copious amount of barroom anthems glamorizing the art of getting wasted (It’s always five o’clock somewhere, right?), while it appears as though almost every CMT staple has launched their own brand of tequila or opened up their own drinking establishment.
Sadly, the demon drink has also claimed the lives of several country stars, perhaps most notably Keith Whitley, who passed away from alcohol poisoning in 1989 aged only 33. The Kentucky native was fast becoming one of Nashville’s most popular singer-songwriters, having just reached the Top 10 with his sophomore Don’t Close Your Eyes.
In fact, he was due to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry just under a month away after his brother-in-law found his lifeless body at the star’s home. Posthumously released later that year, Whitley’s third LP, I Wonder Do You Think Of Me, peaked at No.2 and further highlighted how much more he still had to give.