I don't know if anyone else has ever heard of this guy, but he was a truly amazing musician. I myself have been a huge fan since the Living with the Law album in 91. I for one will miss him :( He was a powerful talent, A master on the Dolbro and the National Steel guitars. R.I.P Chris :rip:


Singer-songwriter Chris Whitley dies at 45
Chameleon singer-songwriter recorded 11 albums

NEW YORK - Chris Whitley, a chameleon singer-songwriter who oscillated between roots rock ’n’ roll, blues and alt-rock, has died. He was 45.

Whitley passed away Sunday evening, according to a message posted on his Web site by his daughter, Trixie Whitley.

Specifics were not available Tuesday. “No one saw this coming,” his publicist of several years, Ben Sterling, told The Associated Press.
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The Texas-based singer was surrounded by his family and girlfriend before passing away, according to his Web site.

“I hope you all will mourn my brother’s death, but more important, celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living,” read a message from his brother, Daniel. “I started the celebration by cranking up ‘Dirt Floor’ in his honor.”

“Dirt Floor” was Whitley 1998 album. He recorded eleven albums since his 1991 debut, “Living with the Law,” including this year’s “Soft Dangerous Shores.”

OMG!!! I was just posting about him a while ago in my rock and roll history thread!! :eek: I hadn't heard much of his music, but he struck me as an honest musician, with the dobro and vintage National guitars. And he was not very old, as well. :crying:

Of course, none of the rawk stations around are going to play any sort of tribute... :rolleyes: "Unknown!!"

From the reports I've read he dies of lung cancer...that's pretty young to be going like that. :( I'm just glad someone else on here has heard of him, he was definately one of those rare talents a lot of people never find. I haven't seen much as far as tributes go unless you count the people racing to work them into thier reviews on Amazon :(

From the reports I've read he dies of lung cancer...that's pretty young to be going like that. :( I'm just glad someone else on here has heard of him, he was definately one of those rare talents a lot of people never find. I haven't seen much as far as tributes go unless you count the people racing to work them into thier reviews on Amazon :(I did see clips of him on MTV a while back where he seemed to smoke a lot in interviews, so that might say something there.
I think after seeing the 'Walk the Line' movie, I've been interested in learning more about honest singer/songwriter "American troubadour" style musicians, the ones that aren't going to be selling out in droves on Sam Goody.

I did see clips of him on MTV a while back where he seemed to smoke a lot in interviews, so that might say something there.
I think after seeing the 'Walk the Line' movie, I've been interested in learning more about honest singer/songwriter "American troubadour" style musicians, the ones that aren't going to be selling out in droves on Sam Goody.


You are definately right about his smoking, he was a heavy smoker. Did you ever pick up his debut album "Living with the Law"? That was my first introduction to him and is STILL one of my alltime favorite albums. If you haven't you should check it out over at Amazon, they have clips fro each song..though they don't give you enough to know how powerful each song is. But I would definately pick that one up. I'm thinking about getting another copy myself, I lost my original :(

correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't there also a country singer named Chris Whitley who died quite some time ago? When I read "Chris Whitley dies at 45", my initial thought was "hasn't he been dead for over a decade?" then I read the bio and realized it was a different person.

Either way, rip