Whitney was born in Pawnee City, Nebraska on February 17, 1963, where he was raised on a pig farm.[6] He is the son of Tom Whitney – a guitarist, entertainer, and Christian minister – and Shirley Whitney.[7] Whitney attended high school at The King's Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, in the late 1970s through 1980[8][9][10] where his father was The King's Academy's elementary school principal.[11]