Media Reaction: Lorrie Morgan Files Bankruptcy

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Lorrie Morgan has filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The reasoning in reports advise it is business related expenses. Apparently, in 1992 she filed chapter 11 bankruptcy and withdrew it after all her debtors were paid. I certainly wish her the best and hope that she will be able to put things back together and regain her focus on country music.

Now, that's the end of the story. It should be a paragraph or two on country music related websites, and in the Tennessean (Nashville's newspaper.)

However, that's not how it is being treated. Most of the stories for some reason believe that they need to mention that she has been married 5 times. I'm not sure how that exactly fits into the story. Some of the reports make note of 2 hits she had, "What Part of No" and "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." However, it doesn't mention 19 top 25 hit songs, 9 albums that were in the the top 15 on the country music album charts, nor that she has been a member of The Grand Ole Opry since 1984. Nothing about making her first appearance on the Opry stage in 1972 aside her father, the Hall of Fame member and Opry star, George Morgan that died in 1975. If you want to write a story that people will read that just may not know much about country music, I certainly think it should mention a lot more about the person than 2 hits and that she's been married/divorced 5 times.

I find it very interesting. Yesterday, it was ranked as the 2nd most read story on CNN.com. It was listed as the #2 story in their entertainment listings. Google lists 264 news stories about it, not counting blog posts, and other websites that aren't listed in their news section. Apparently this is bigger news than I thought. There comments on a lot of the posts with people's opinions and such, not just notes of support. Sure, its a news bit and most of the information is public court filings, but really... its a personal issue that doesn't need the attention it has apparently received.

As I was doing some reading on Lorrie Morgan this morning, I did notice that she has a new album out, and a couple weeks ago I heard her perform a single from it, "I Walk Alone," on The Opry. However, the new album is only available to fan club members on her website. Very odd way of handling a CD release I think, especially when money is an issue. Hopefully, we will see the album available for the public, without dropping $20+ dollars to join a "club" and then the cost of the album.