How Did Hank Williams Really Die? - Country Rebel [42] He continued to show up for his radio show intoxicated, so in August 1942 the WSFA radio station fired him for "habitual drunkenness". A doctor injected. 'The Garden Spot Programs' 1950", "Hank Williams' 'The Garden Spot Programs' Named Best Historical Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards", "Tom Hiddleston played country icon Hank Williams in biopic", "File Action to Untangle Hank Williams Estate", "Mother's Best, Hank's Best: A Conversation With Jett Williams and the Students", "The Year's Top Country & Western Artists/The Year's Top Country & Western Records", "PBS 'Country Music' - Native stories of Hank Williams Sr., Loretta Lynn and Peter La Farge", "Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame", "Country Music by Ken Burns Episode 3 The Hillbilly Shakespeare", Listing of all Hank Williams's songs and alternatives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hank_Williams&oldid=1142672396, Special Awards and Citation for his pivotal role in transforming country music, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:34. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. In June, he divorced Audrey Williams,[2] and on August 11, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness. [31], The president of MGM told Billboard magazine that the company got only about five requests for pictures of Williams during the weeks prior to his death, but over 300 afterwards. The performances greatly increased Williams' name recognition, but he still lacked a number one hit. His mother subsequently demanded that the school board terminate the coach; when they refused, the family moved to Montgomery, Alabama. The couple were married in 1944 at a Texaco Station in Andalusia, Alabama, by a justice of the peace. Later life and death. Hank Williams - Biography - IMDb Celebrity Births Deaths and Ages Hank Williams Sr. [3] In October 1952, he married Billie Jean Jones. His father actually died January 1, 1953, and of course Jr was 3 years old. As people across his native Alabama picked up their newspapers that day, they were greeted with the tragic news Williams had died. "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'. When several of his band members were drafted during World War II, he had trouble with their replacements, and WSFA terminated his contract because of his alcoholism. She was a headstrong, recently divorced mother of a 2-year-old, six months his senior and also a musician. Despite his relatively brief career, he is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, especially in country music. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Hank Williams, Sr. passed away on January 1, 1953 at 29 years old.Hank Williams Net Worth. Hanks first and second wives watched from the front pew. [27] Payne taught Williams chords, chord progressions, bass turns, and the musical style of accompaniment that he would use in most of his future songwriting. His first wife and his mother were the driving forces behind having the marriage declared invalid, and they pursued the matter for years. Little did he know that the woman he would fall in love with would be the key to his success. His father was a railroad engineer who was also a victim of shell shock after a year of fighting in France in 1918 during World War I and spent many years in veterans hospitals. "Ol' Hank" was just 29 years old when he died, the same age as English Romantic Poet Shelley when he drowned in the Gulf of . Many of their replacements refused to play in the band due to Williams' worsening alcoholism. How old was hank Williams jr when hank Williams sr died - Answers Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank. Hank Williams died of drug and alcohol abuse at the age of 29. After recording "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" with Sterling Records, he signed a contract with MGM Records. While he was medically disqualified from military service after suffering a back injury caused by falling from a bull during a rodeo in Texas, his band members were all drafted to serve. "I saw that the overcoat and blanket that had been covering Hank had slipped off," Carr told yet another reporter. On the weekend after the tour ended, Williams was photographed backstage at the Grand Ole Opry signing a motion picture deal with MGM. By the early 1940s, he'd caught the attention of music executives in Nashville. [47] As a result of the new variety of his repertoire, Williams published his first songbook, Original Songs of Hank Williams. Williams remains a beloved albeit tragic figure in country music and his work continues to influence musicians to this day. His life and career were the subject of I Saw the Light, a 2015 biopic, starring Tom Hiddleston as Williams and Elizabeth Olsen as his first wife, Audrey. Among the hits he wrote were "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'", and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". She stated that she received after Williams' death a bill for $800 from Marshall for the treatment. Carr was exhausted and, according to the police reports, nervous enough to invite suspicion that foul play had been involved in Williams' death. Hank jr. was three years old when his father died in 1959. A picture from the past came slowly stealing As I brushed your arm and walked so close to you Then suddenly I got that old time feeling I can't help it if I'm still in love with you. A doctor injected Williams with B12 and morphine and porters carried the legendary singer-songwriter to the car. When he tried to move his hands, they snapped back to the same position the hotel porters had arranged him in. That day, Williams could not fly because of an ice storm in the Nashville area; he hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts. Williams was among the first class of artists inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, and in 2010, the Pulitzer Board awarded him a special citation for songwriting. [58] He brought together Bob McNett (guitar), Hillous Butrum (bass), Jerry Rivers (fiddle) and Don Helms (steel guitar) to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys, earning an estimated $1,000 per show (equivalent to $11,400 in 2021) That year Audrey Williams gave birth to Randall Hank Williams (Hank Williams Jr.). [123] Several members of Williams' descendants became musicians: Hank Williams Jr., daughter Jett Williams, grandsons Hank Williams III and Sam Williams, and granddaughters Hilary Williams[124] and Holly Williams are also country musicians. I told Carr that Williams looked dead but I did not press the point when Carr explained that Williams had been given two sedatives, Kitts was quoted as saying. Elonzo stayed to celebrate his son's birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana. His substance abuse problems continued to spiral out of control as he moved to Nashville and officially divorced Sheppard. The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. In 1948, he moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, and he joined the Louisiana Hayride, a radio show broadcast that propelled him into living rooms all over the Southeast appearing on weekend shows. Williams and his wife approached Fred Rose, the president of the company, during one of his habitual ping-pong games at WSM radio studios. [95] That evening, when the announcer in Canton announced Williams' death to the gathered crowd, they started laughing because they thought it was just another excuse. [10] Carr and Williams headed out of Knoxville from the Andrew Johnson Hotel via Gay Street to Magnolia Ave to 11w. In 1952, he divorced Sheppard and married singer Billie Jean Horton. Fearful that disc jockeys and jukebox operators would hesitate to accept these unusual recordings, Williams used this alias to avoid hurting the marketability of his name. [98][99] Williams' remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery. He had a message. Carr later kept driving until he reached a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where Williams was discovered unresponsive in the back seat. [71] During his recovery, he lived with his mother in Montgomery, and later moved to Nashville with Ray Price. When he played on his guitar, he played on the heart-strings of millions, pastor Henry Lyons of Highland Avenue Baptist Church told the crowd gathered on Perry Street. Lillie Stone, Audrey Williams, and Hank Williams, Jr., seated on a bed while looking through letters and cards received after the death of Hank Williams, Sr. [29] In 1937, Williams got into a fight with his physical education teacher about exercises the coach wanted him to do. Carr talked to Williams for the last time when they stopped at a restaurant in Bristol, Virginia. He was dead on arrival at an Oak Hill hospital, the front page of The Alabama Journal read. Cut from rural stock, Williams, the third child of Lon and Lillie Williams, grew up in a household that never had much money. "[44], He worked for the rest of the war for a shipbuilding company in Mobile, Alabama, as well as singing in bars for soldiers. [77], During his last recording session on September 23, 1952, Williams recorded "Kaw-Liga", along with "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Take These Chains from My Heart", and "I Could Never be Ashamed of You". Hank jr. was three years old when his father died in 1959 His father actually died January 1, 1953, and of course Jr was 3 years old. Prior to that, duplicates were made and intended to be published by a third party. His physical appearance diminished, too. [18], In the fall of 1934, the Williams family moved to Greenville, Alabama, where Lillie opened a boarding house next to the Butler County courthouse. His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on the same list. As a boy, Williams was the musical protg of Rufus Payne, an African American street performer who went by the name Tee-Tot and busked on the streets of Georgiana and Greenville, Alabama. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. Encyclopedia of Alabama - Biography of Hank Williams Sr. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - Biography of Hank Williams, Alabama Music Hall of Fame - Biography of Hank Williams, Hank Williams - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1987). [77] The next day, two public ceremonies were held at the New Orleans Civic Auditorium, where 14,000 seats were sold for each. Now free to travel without Williams' schooling taking precedence, the band could tour as far away as western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. [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. A 3-CD selection of the tracks, restored by Joe Palmaccio, was released by Time-Life in October 2008 titled The Unreleased Recordings. [105] Williams had 11 number one country hits in his career ("Lovesick Blues", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me", "Moanin' the Blues", "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'", "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive", "Kaw-Liga", "Your Cheatin' Heart", and "Take These Chains from My Heart"), as well as many other top 10 hits. One woman was carried out after she collapsed. "[36], On March 19, Marshall declared that he felt Williams was depressed and committed suicide by taking a higher dose of the drugs he had prescribed. Liquored up and abusing morphine, he collapsed in a hotel room in Knoxville, Tennessee. More than half of the 66 recordings he would make under his own name (he also released a string of religious-themed recordings under the name Luke the Drifter) were Top Ten country and western hits, many of them reaching number one, including Cold, Cold Heart, Your Cheatin Heart, Hey, Good Lookin, Jambalaya (On the Bayou), and Ill Never Get Out of This World Alive. His extraordinary Lost Highway peaked at number 12. [59] On May 21, he had been admitted to North Louisiana Sanitarium for the treatment of his alcoholism, leaving on May 24. The set was re-released on Hank Williams: The Legend Begins in 2011. Audrey Williams divorced him that year; the next day he recorded "You Win Again" and "I Won't be Home No More". The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. A pop cover version by Tony Bennett released the same year stayed on the charts for 27 weeks, peaking at number one. [67], Williams' career reached a peak in the late summer of 1951 with his Hadacol tour of the U.S. with Bob Hope and other actors. Hank Williams was born Hiram Williams[3] on September 17, 1923,[4] in the rural community of Mount Olive in Butler County, Alabama. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. All Rights Reserved. As a girl, Jones had lived down the street from Williams when he was with the Louisiana Hayride, and now Williams began to visit her frequently in Shreveport, causing him to miss many Grand Ole Opry appearances. It included 10 songs: "Mother Is Gone", "Won't You Please Come Back", "My Darling Baby Girl" (with Audrey Sheppard), "Grandad's Musket", "I Just Wish I Could Forget", "Let's Turn Back the Years", "Honkey-Tonkey", "I Loved No One But You", "A Tramp on the Street", and "You'll Love Me Again". Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Williams was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most significant country music artists of all time. Hank Williams' Daughter Didn't Know That He Was Her Father - Biography [57] On June 11, 1949, Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores. Williams said he did not, and those are thought to be his last words. His life and music received a fresh look in 2019 with Ken Burns' 16-hour documentary, Country Music, which prominently featured the icon in an episode titled "The Hillbilly Shakespeare.". During one of his concerts, Williams met his idol, Grand Ole Opry star Roy Acuff backstage,[43] who later warned him of the dangers of alcohol, saying, "You've got a million-dollar talent, son, but a ten-cent brain. [39] Oklahoma Governor Johnston Murray revoked the parole of Horace Raphol "Toby" Marshall, who returned to prison to complete his forgery sentence.[40]. [79], On December 15, 1944, Williams married Audrey Sheppard. Hank Williams Death Car, Montgomery, Alabama His mother was Audrey, and his step mothers were Bobbie Jett, who had his stepsister, and Billie Gean who was a widow just months after she married Williams, Sr. (Williams para.14). 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. [45] Sheppard later told Williams that she wanted to move to Montgomery with him and start a band together and help him regain his radio show. [50], On September 14, 1946, Williams auditioned for Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, but was rejected. [6] The family's first child, Ernest Huble Williams, was born on July 5, 1921; he died two days later. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but there are many who say otherwise. Keillor, Garrison. The station's owner called the local police chief. Hank Williams died 70 years ago: 20,000 attended 1953 Alabama funeral Under the name of Dr. C. W. Lemon he prescribed Williams with amphetamines, Seconal, chloral hydrate, and morphine, which made his heart problems worse. Red Foley, Roy Acuff, and Ernest Tubb, among others, sang Williamss gospel-influenced I Saw the Light at his funeral, which was attended by thousands. Because Williams may have left no will, the disposition of the remaining 50 percent was considered uncertain; those involved included Williams' second wife, Billie Jean Horton and her daughter, and Williams' mother and sister. 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. Jones agreed to Williams's terms. "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in 1952 but released in 1953 after Williams's death. [8] He was of English and Welsh ancestry,[9][10][11][12] and he was also of Muscogee, Choctaw, and Cherokee descent. The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys. You wrote only what you felt boil up inside you. He denied any responsibility in both deaths. Charles Carr told the AJC in 2002 he was the only witness when Hank Williams died. Hank Williams' last ride: Driver recalls lonesome end - ajc Long plagued by alcoholism, Williams fell ill at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville on the last night of 1952. But coupled with Williams' obvious talents as a singer and songwriter was an increasing dependence on alcohol, which he'd started abusing in order to relieve his sometimes excruciating back pain. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Williams told a story in later concerts that attributed his name change to a cat's yowling. [106], On February 8, 1960, Williams' star was placed at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The break had to come, he added. The marriage was technically invalid, since Sheppard's divorce from her previous husband did not comply with the legally required 60-day trial reconciliation. 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 musics first superstar. [43] The recordings "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" became successful, and earned Williams the attention of MGM Records. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. [83] After Williams' death, a judge ruled that the wedding was not legal because Jones' divorce had not become final until 11 days after she married Williams. People from 35 states were said to have made the trip to say farewell to Hank. This addiction eventually led to his divorce from Audrey Williams and his dismissal from the Grand Ole Opry. [92] In Williams' Cadillac, the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics. [83], On January 2, Williams' body was transported to Montgomery, Alabama, where it was placed in a silver casket that was displayed at his mother's boarding house for two days. He remained hospitalized for eight years, rendering him mostly absent throughout Williams' childhood. "Tom [Hiddleston, the actor portraying Williams] puts across that impending sense of doom. Police found empty beer cans and unfinished song lyrics in the Cadillac where Williams died. One famous person of Williams, Jr.'s . In 1977, a national organization of CB truck drivers voted "Your Cheatin' Heart" as their favorite record of all time. Williams had also married Sheppard before her divorce was final, on the 10th day of a required 60-day reconciliation period. His funeral was held the next day, Sunday Jan. 4, 1953, at Montgomerys City Auditorium. [39] The band started playing in theaters before the start of the movies and later in honky-tonks. Stopping for gas in Oak Hill, West Virginia, Carr realized Williams was dead. Defending his position, he claimed that Williams possibly committed suicide. This being the days of Jim Crow, the 200 Black mourners were in a segregated balcony. However, much of what led to his non-sobriety is exactly what made his music as good as it was. Hank Williams Jr. - Songs, Age & Wife - Biography Malinin also found that, apparently unrelated to his death, Williams had also been severely kicked in the groin during a fight in a Montgomery bar a few days earlier[14] in which he had also injured his left arm, which had been subsequently bandaged. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. One year later, he released a cover of "Lovesick Blues", a huge country hit, which propelled him to stardom on the Grand Ole Opry. As the titles of some of Williams' songs suggest, heartbreak and turmoil were never that far from his life. They began to fill the auditorium hours before the afternoon funeral. [37], In August 1938, Elonzo Williams was temporarily released from the hospital. 29, January 1st 1953. Williams eventually started to host a show on KWKH and started touring across western Louisiana and eastern Texas, always returning on Saturdays for the weekly broadcast of the Hayride. James Ellis Garner later played fiddle for him. Is Hank Williams Sr single? [16], The circumstances of Williams's death are still controversial. Williams said he did not, and those are believed to be his last words. [63] The songs depicted Luke the Drifter traveling around from place to place, narrating stories of different characters and philosophizing about life. His mother adopted Jett, who was made a ward of the state after her grandmother died and then adopted by another couple. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams' hits and his cover version of other songs. Instead of performing, Williams died 70 years ago today, on Jan. 1, 1953. Corrections? medically disqualified from military service, I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You), Grammy for Best Country Vocal Collaboration, "Luke the Drifter and the Secrets of Country | ABCtales", "Cowtown Birthplace of Western Swing - Hank Williams", Escott, Colin, Merritt, George & MacEwen, William 2015, "Show 9 Tennessee Firebird: American country music before and after Elvis. In 1951, Williams hosted a 15-minute show for Mother's Best Flour on WSM radio. The worker claimed that she sold Williams' notes to a representative of the Honky-Tonk Hall of Fame and the Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. Before it was over, some 20,000 people had filled the auditorium and the street outside for what was described as the largest funeral in Montgomerys history. However, she was to marry someone else before the . [137], Williams was portrayed by English actor Tom Hiddleston in the 2016 biopic I Saw the Light, based on Colin Escott's 1994 book Hank Williams: The Biography. 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. [32] During the same year, he participated in a talent show at the Empire Theater. . [16] The couple divorced on May 29, 1952. [101] Released in July, "I Won't Be Home No More" went to No. Williams had an agreement giving his first wife half of the royalties, but allegedly there was no clarification that the deal was valid after his death. The unfinished lyrics were later returned to Sony/ATV, which handed them to Bob Dylan in 2008 to complete the songs for a new album. Jett did not learn that she was Williams' daughter until the early 1980s. Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel at around 10:45p.m. Hotel porters had to carry Williams to his vehicle, an Olympic Blue 1952 Cadillac Series 62 convertible, as he was coughing and hiccupping. Marshall stated that Williams told him that he had decided to "destroy the Hank Williams that was making the money they were getting". [76] In October 1952 he married Billie Jean Jones. [31], In July 1937, the Williams and McNeils opened a boarding house on South Perry Street in downtown Montgomery. The song, backed by "Kaw-Liga", was No. Hank Williams was an aspiring country music singer when he first met Audrey Williams. [33], As part of an investigation of illicit drug traffic conducted by the Oklahoma legislature, representative Robert Cunningham seized Marshall's files. His passing did not bring about the end to his stardom, however. Date Of Birth : Audrey Williams asked Rose if her husband could sing a song for him on that moment,[51] Rose agreed, and he liked Williams' musical style. [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! His performances were acclaimed when he was sober, but despite the efforts of his work associates to get him to shows sober, his abuse of alcohol resulted in occasions when he did not appear or his performances were poor.