Keith Whitley was a longtime alcoholic, who had begun drinking early in his career at Bluegrass concerts -- long before he was legally allowed to drink alcohol. Many times he had tried to cure his alcoholism, but these methods had failed, even though Whitley claimed to have conquered his drinking in an interview with the T.V. show "Crook And Chase" in 1988. Whitley preferred to drink alone, making it tough for anyone to detect he had been drinking.
On the morning of May 9th after a weekend of drinking and partying with friends, Keith woke, spoke with his mom and was drinking coffee with a family member who had left for an hour and returned. Upon returning Keith was found by the family member face down on his bed. He was pronounced dead at 11:16am. He was 34 years old.
The cause of death was alcohol related and the report showed he was five times over the legal limit to drive.
His death sent shock waves through the world of country music, Keith was a person that was loved by so many people and was just making a name for himself at the time of his death.
