A highly motivated group of Keith Whitley fans and industry friends have organized a crowdfunding campaign to erect a memorial monument at the site of his final resting place in Tennessee. It is their hope that this can be successfully completed during 2022, the year that Whitley is to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
They have chosen a weeping angel motif to adorn Keith’s gravesite, which meets with the enthusiastic approval of his widow, Lorrie Morgan, and his children, Jesse and Morgan Whitley.
Lorrie says, “My family and I are so happy at the prospect of seeing this monument in Keith’s honor. I would be so moved to see it installed the same year that he is finally made a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and I’m deeply touched by those who care so deeply about Keith’s memory and legacy.”
Bluegrass fans had claimed Keith as their own long before his fame skyrocketed as a country artist in the 1980s. We had adopted him into the bluegrass family during the time he played with Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys alongside his teen pal Ricky Skaggs, and as the lead singer and guitarist with J.D. Crowe & The New South. Of course we were delighted to see his success in country music, and always figured he would be back to bluegrass at some point, but his chronic problems with alcohol got to him before that could happen.
An Indiegogo campaign is enabled online, with a flexible goal of $80,000 to be raised to build and install this monument. Lorrie Morgan Entertainment and Conway Entertainment Group are overseeing the fundraising to ensure that everything is on the up and up. A variety of perks will be given to donors based on the amount they are able to give, from Keith Whitley posters, memorial coins, and hats for smaller gifts, up to a personal concert with Lorrie Morgan and Jesse Keith Whitley for a donation of $35,000.
This seems like a worthy effort to see Keith honored in perpetuity at Springhill Cemetery in Madison, TN, who have already approved the monument in question.
Indiegogo makes giving simple online using a major credit/debit card or PayPal.
For more details or to donate, visit the fundraising page online.
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