I was a pretty good imitator of Roy Acuff, but then I found out they already had a Roy Acuff, so I started singin' like myself. [62] Although the real identity of Luke the Drifter was supposed to be anonymous, Williams often performed part of the material of the recordings on stage. At this stage Williams began abusing alcohol, a problem that haunted him the rest of his life but that came about partly as a result of his attempts to self-medicate agonizing back pain caused by a congenital spinal disorder. Hank Williams had something that humanity universally needs -- a song with a heart-felt message.. He was severely injured after falling from a truck, breaking his collarbone and suffering a severe blow to the head. He was unresponsive and rigor mortis had already begun to set in. "Long Gone Daddy: A Biography of Hank Williams, Country Music's Tragic Hero". [77] It was the second marriage for both (each being divorced with children). His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on the same list. [16] The couple divorced on May 29, 1952. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains. Hank Williams Sr. In full support of Williams' musical aspirations was his mother, Lillie. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. You wrote only what happened to you and the people around you, Advertiser columnist Allen Rankin wrote on the day of the funeral. [30] Payne and Williams lost touch, though Payne also eventually moved to Montgomery, where he died in poverty in 1939. [31], In July 1937, the Williams and McNeils opened a boarding house on South Perry Street in downtown Montgomery. Astrological Sign: Virgo, Death Year: 1953, Death date: January 1, 1953, Death State: West Virginia, Death City: Oak Hill, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Hank Williams Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/hank-williams, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: September 18, 2019, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014. Williams had to cancel the concert due to an ice storm; he hired college student Charles Carr to drive him to his next appearance, a concert on New Year's Day 1953, at the Canton Memorial Auditorium in Canton, Ohio. Hank Williams, byname of Hiram Williams, also called the Hillbilly Shakespeare, (born September 17, 1923, Georgiana, Alabama, U.S.died January 1, 1953, Oak Hill, West Virginia), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who in the 1950s arguably became country music 's first superstar. [79], On December 15, 1944, Williams married Audrey Sheppard. [86] Fitzgerald was interviewed, and he suggested that Lillie Williams operated a brothel at her boarding house in Montgomery. The world he seemed to identify most with was the musical sounds that poured out of the radio and emanated from church choirs. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. The original members were guitarist Braxton Schuffert, fiddler Freddie Beach, and comedian Smith "Hezzy" Adair. Since Williams' parents were both followers of Freemasonry,[7] Williams was named after Hiram I. Instead, Williams died 67 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1953. [Part 1]", "Hank Williams Sr. makes his Grand Ole Opry debut", "The Year's Top Country and Western Records", "Hank Williams' last ride: Driver recalls lonesome end", Huber, Patrick, Goodson, Steve & Anderson, David 2014, Haislop, Neil, Lathrop, Tad & Sumrall, Harry 1995, "1985 Inductee: Lifework Award for Performing Achievement", "Hank Williams Wins Again, And Inspires Countless Covers | uDiscover", "Hank Williams receives additional Grammy Recognition as "Lovesick Blues" inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame", "The Beatles' catalogue wins 'Best Historical Album' Grammy", "Hank Williams: Native American group Inducts Him", "The 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners Special Awards and Citations", "Hilary Williams Details Her Brush with Death in 'Sign of Life', "New exhibit explores Hank Williams' family legacy", "Hilary Williams on Triumphant New Album 'My Lucky Scars,' Family Legacy", "Country Singer Hank Williams Jr.'s Daughter, 27, Killed in Tennessee Car Crash", "The Hank Williams Lineage Continues with Hank3's Son "IV", "Nashville Skyline: Hank Williams' Life After Death", "The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams to be released in October", "Nashville Skyline: Johnny Cash and Hank Williams: Got Some More Music Here", "Hear a newly discovered Hank Williams performance", "Six Decades Later, A Long-Lost Hank Williams Recording Resurfaces", "Newly Discovered Hank! [85] In 2005, the BBC documentary series Arena featured an episode on Williams. He formed the Drifting Cowboys backup band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career. [clarification needed][20], The body was transported to Montgomery on January 2. 1 (three posthumously). Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Jones refused to pay, and further stated that Marshall later intended to convince her to pay him by assuring that he would "pave her the way to collect her husband's state". Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. On the evening of December 30, 1952, the restless, rail-thin 29-year-old tossed and turned in bed at his home in Montgomery, Ala. On the evening of Dec. 30, 1952, the restless, rail-thin 29-year-old tossed and turned in bed at his home in Montgomery, Ala. Audrey Williams divorced him that year; the next day he recorded "You Win Again" and "I Won't be Home No More". [134] Gimarc contacted Williams' daughter Jett, and Colin Escott, writer of a biography book on Williams. Around this time, he met Billie Jean Jones, a girlfriend of country singer Faron Young, at the Grand Ole Opry. At his mothers request, the concert in Canton went on as planned. [114] Many artists of the 1950s and 1960s, including Elvis Presley,[115] Bob Dylan, Tammy Wynette, David Houston, Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard,[116] Gene Vincent,[117] Carl Perkins,[118] Ricky Nelson, and Conway Twitty[119] recorded Williams' songs during their careers. [33], As part of an investigation of illicit drug traffic conducted by the Oklahoma legislature, representative Robert Cunningham seized Marshall's files. [12] Stamey and Janney found some empty beer cans and the unfinished handwritten lyrics to a song yet to be recorded in the Cadillac convertible. On New Year's Day 1953, he took his seat in the back of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac. She stated that she received after Williams' death a bill for $800 from Marshall for the treatment. It was all in Hanks heart. It was her second marriage and his first. Later life and death. In Knoxville, Tennessee, the two stopped at the Andrew Johnson Hotel. Later that year he received his first recording contract, with Sterling Records; however, it was on the start-up label MGM that he had his first hit, Move It on Over in 1947. Country music historian Bill Malone wrote that Williams sang with the quality that has characterized every great hillbilly singer: utter sincerity. Despite Williamss many well-known heartbreak songs, it should also be remembered that he was capable of writing and singing with great joy and humour, as on, for example, Howlin at the Moon., The last years of his life were suffused in increasing sadness and substance abuse. Keillor, Garrison. Due to Williams' excesses, Fred Rose stopped working with him. Williams said he did not, and those are thought to be his last words. You wrote only what you felt boil up inside you. In June, he divorced Audrey Williams,[2] and on August 11, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness. [128], In 2006, a janitor of Sony/ATV Music Publishing found in a dumpster the unfinished lyrics written by Williams that had been found in his car the night he died. Many artists have covered his songs and he has influenced Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, George Jones, George Strait, Charley Pride, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, among others. . That night, the singers body was taken back to Montgomery. As his success deepened, so did Williams' dependence on alcohol and morphine. [102], Williams has been called "the King of Country Music" in popular culture. [21] Their first house burned down, and the family lost their possessions. Corrections? They began to fill the auditorium hours before the afternoon funeral. Why was Hank Williams an alcoholic? His funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium, with his casket placed on the flower-covered stage. If he came to this conclusion (of suicide), he still had enough prestige left as a star to make a first-class production of it whereas, six months from now, unless he pulled himself back up into some high-class bookings, he might have been playing for nickels and dimes on skid row. His first wife and his mother were the driving forces behind having the marriage declared invalid, and they pursued the matter for years. Is Hank Williams Sr single? Many of their replacements refused to play in the band due to Williams' worsening alcoholism. "When I pulled it back up, I noticed that his hand was stiff and cold." Died On: 1953: How old was Hank Williams Sr.? [24], There are several versions of how Williams got his first guitar. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. [54] After a few more moderate hits, in 1949 he released his version of the 1922 Cliff Friend and Irving Mills song "Lovesick Blues",[55] made popular by Rex Griffin. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains and causing him to be dependent on alcohol and prescription drugs. The break had to come, he added. In mid-June 2020, Katherine Williams-Dunning the daughter of country singer Hank Williams Jr. was killed in a car crash in Tennessee. Less than 48 hours later, Hank Williams was dead. [57] On June 11, 1949, Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores. Carr immediately realized that he was dead and informed the filling station's owner, Glenn Burdette, who called the chief of the local police, O.H. "I saw that the overcoat and blanket that had been covering Hank had slipped off," Carr told yet another reporter. [38] The band traveled throughout central and southern Alabama performing in clubs and at private gatherings. "I went inside and an older guy, around 50, came back out with me, looked in the back seat, and said, 'I think you've got a problem'. After recording "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" with Sterling Records, he signed a contract with MGM Records. Here are more vintage images and stories of Alabamas past. [109] When Downbeat magazine took a poll the year after Williams' death, he was voted the most popular country and Western performer of all timeahead of such giants as Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Acuff, Red Foley, and Ernest Tubb.[110].