Born Gerald Thomas Whitehurst on May 12, 1938, in Nashville, he was a very prominent piano player in Nashville’s country music scene. He died October 30, 2022.
The longtime fixture of Nashville’s music scene carved out a career as one of the most sought-after musicians in Music City, playing on records by Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Cash, Pat Boone, Lester Flatt, Ernest Tubb, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Porter Wagoner and more. Whitehurst was also a prominent presence on television shows, playing in the house band on the Grand Ole Opry and on ’Hee Haw,’ among others. At one point in the ’80s, he was making 500 TV appearances each year.