Garth Brooks Honors Keith Whitley With Haunting Cover Of ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes’

Parade/IsaacBrekken (Left), acmawards50.com (Right)

Garth Brooks took the stage at iconic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for a heavenly performance of the late Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes.”

Brooks was at the top of his vocal game throughout the video making for an exquisite performance Whitley surely would be proud of. He stayed true to the original, performing the ballad and acoustically radiated intimacy throughout the theatre. 

The heartbreaking love ballad tells the story of a man in love with a woman who is still trapped in the memories of her past relationship, escaping into thoughts of him every time she closes her eyes. The man begs her “Don’t close your eyes, let it be me…Let yesterday go and you’ll find more love than you’ll ever know.”

“Don’t Close Your Eyes” was released in 1988 by Whitley and quickly rose to No.1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart. The song has since been covered by Alan Jackson as well as Kellie Pickler

You can watch Brooks breathtaking performance of Whitley’s heartbreaking ballad in the video below. 

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