Murder on Music Row: The Nashville story two bullets stopped Kevin Hughes from telling

Keith Sharon, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·1 min read
Murder on Music Row, an investigative series from The Tennessean, unveils never-before-published details about the killing of Kevin Hughes, a crime that defined Nashville’s music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Murder on Music Row, an investigative series from The Tennessean, unveils never-before-published details about the killing of Kevin Hughes, a crime that defined Nashville’s music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Integrity turned out to be deadly for Kevin Hughes, a 23-year-old kid with a mullet and a "Dirty Dancing" key fob. He learned too many secrets inside the world of country music in Nashville.

He took two bullets in the back of the head in the middle of one of the most famous streets in America, a place everyone calls Music Row.

From The Tennessean, Murder on Music Row is an eight-part true crime investigative podcast and an eight-part narrative series that will be released each Tuesday beginning May 21. Each installment brings you new insight into the crime that took place 35 years ago.

This deep dive, which The Tennessean began reporting in 2019, includes never-before published reporting of details of the crime that not only defines Nashville of the 1980s and 1990s, but also shines light on a singer and one-time suspect who has demanded an apology from a detective who refuses to give him one.

Listen to the podcast

  • Episode 1: There Ain't No Justice In It

  • Episode 2: Who Shot Sam? (Subscriber exclusive)

  • Episode 3: Chasing That Neon Rainbow (Subscriber exclusive)

  • Episode 4: Tell It Like It Is (Subscriber exclusive)

  • Episode 5: It Ain't My Fault (Subscriber exclusive)

  • Episode 6: If You Don't Know Me By Now (Subscriber exclusive)

  • Episode 7: Life of Sin (Subscriber exclusive)

  • Episode 8: Bury Me In Georgia (Subscriber exclusive)

Subscribe now: Get exclusive access to The Tennessean's Murder on Music Row investigative series

Murder on Music Row

About the reporter

Keith Sharon joined The Tennessean staff in January 2021. He has covered regional issues across the South and won awards for reporting and writing in Tennessee and Alabama. He was part of the team that covered the Covenant School shooting and Middle Tennessee's deadly tornado in 2023. Keith has been investigating and writing newspaper articles for more than 40 years. He has two screenplays to his credit: "Showtime" with Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy and "Finding Steve McQueen" with Forest Whitaker and Travis Fimmel. He was part of the team that was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. He lives just outside Nashville.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Murder on Music Row podcast: The Nashville story two bullets tried to stop