The late country singer-songwriter Keith Whitley was officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday (Oct. 16). Whitley's widow, country star Lorrie Morgan, accepted the medallion on behalf of the "Don't Close Your Eyes" singer in an emotional speech.
"I've gone through everything that Keith would be feeling that I feel like I knew pretty well. He would feel so undeserving," Morgan said. "That was the wonderful thing about Keith. He was so one of us. He loved all these Hall of Fame members."
Morgan, who married Whitley in 1986, recalled the first time she heard Whitley on the radio. As fate would have it, it was the same night the two would meet for the first time.
"I heard Keith sing for the first time on the radio on my way to the Grand Ole Opry. I was on my way to sing [on] the Saturday night Opry and I heard this song come on the radio and this voice sang 'Miami, My Amy.' I pulled my car off of Briley Parkway and I sat there and thought 'I'm in love with that man,'" Morgan said. "I didn't know who it was at the time. Right as he got done singing [radio host] Keith Bilbrey said 'that is the great Keith Whitley with No. 15 in the nation this week with 'Miami, My Amy' and he's coming up on the 8:30 spot on the Grand Ole Opry' and I floored my car. I said 'I am gonna get a chance to meet this man tonight.' And I did. He asked me out that night and of course the rest is history, with us anyway."
Whitley died of alcohol poisoning on May 9, 1989, leaving behind Morgan and their two children, daughter Morgan and son Jesse Keith.
"Keith was three weeks away from being made a member of the Grand Ole Opry when he passed away," Morgan said. "He didn't know it. He would've never suspected this in his life. This is the greatest honor for me to accept this, along with my children, Jesse Keith Whitley [and] Morgan Whitley. We have been through a lot together in remembering Keith and loving Keith and missing Keith."
Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Morgan also thanked Whitley's fans for their love and support throughout the years.
"It's because they want his music played that he's remembered," Morgan said.
Whitley was officially inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Jerry Lee Lewis (Veterans Era Artist category) and Joe Galante (non performer category).
