Garth Brooks Dedicates “The Dance” To Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan

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The Grand Ole Opry Honors Keith Whitley With A Tribute ShowÂ
Music City gathered last weekend to remember the late Keith Whitley at the famous Grand Ole Opry. The event, I Wonder Do You Think of Me: The Opry Remembers Keith Whitley, was a âone-of-a-kind showâ with a lineup including Garth Brooks, Terri Clark, Ashley McBryde, Lorrie Morgan, Jesse Keith Whitley, Mark Wills, and the Grascals.Â

Garth Brooks Dedicates âThe Danceâ To Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan   Â
Garth Brooks performed his signature track, âThe Danceâ during the special tribute show. He dedicated the song to Keith Whitley and Lorrie Morgan who wed in November of 1986, but their love story was tragically cut short by Whitleyâs untimely death in 1989.Â
Brooks can be seen wiping tears from his eyes as the song comes to a close.Â
âThe innocence, the love, the tradition of country music is alive and well in this house. It has been an honor to pay tribute to Keith Whitley in the house of country music tonight.âÂ
The Story Behind âThe DanceâÂ
âThe Danceâ was written by Tony Arata in 1988 when he was an aspiring songwriter in Nashville, TN. Garth Brooks heard the ballad for the first time at an open mic night and told Arata that he would cut the song if he ever secured a record deal.Â
The emotional song describes the struggle of remembering good times amidst pain. Brooks once reflected on the song:Â
âTo a lot of people, I guess âThe Danceâ is a love gone bad song. Which, you know, that it is. But to me, itâs always been a song about life. Or maybe the loss of those people that have given the ultimate sacrifice for a dream that they believed in, like the John F. Kennedyâs or the Martin Luther Kingâs. John Wayneâs or the Keith Whitleyâs.âÂ
See Tony Arata, the original songwriter, perform a stripped-down version of âThe Danceâ at the famous Bluebird Cafe below.