Williams and her son, Hank Jr., became estranged after he turned 18. Williams had also married Sheppard before her divorce was final, on the 10th day of a required 60-day reconciliation period. Why was Hank Williams an alcoholic? [88] The two arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Carr requested a doctor for Williams, who was affected by the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had consumed on the way to Knoxville. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [62] Country music legends June Carter and Bill Monroe were among those who filed past his open casket as Hanks band, The Drifting Cowboys, backed up those singing tributes to the fallen star. [103][104] Alabama governor Gordon Persons officially proclaimed September 21 "Hank Williams Day". 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. No, Hank Williams Sr is not single. [28] His musical style contained influences from Payne along with several other country influences, among them Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, and Roy Acuff. [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. His stardom put money in his pocket and gave him the kind of creative freedom artists long for. He was very kind, and said Oak Hill General Hospital was six miles on my left," and that would place him in Mount Hope. [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. [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. 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. In late 1951, he suffered a minor heart attack while visiting his sister in Florida. The couple were married in 1944 at a Texaco Station in Andalusia, Alabama, by a justice of the peace. [69] On November 14, 1951, Williams flew to New York with his steel guitar player Don Helms where he appeared on television for the first time on The Perry Como Show. 7. However, his plaintive, bluesy phrasing was unique and became a touchstone of country music. They are in a bedroom in the home of Lillie (Hank Williams's mother) on North McDonough Street in Montgomery, Alabama. If Williams had lived, it's not entirely certain that the Nashville music community, so eager to shed its hillbilly roots, would have continued to embrace Williams' music. It provided the title for the 1964 biographic film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton. She drove her son and his band to shows throughout southern Alabama. In ways that must have seemed unimaginable to this poor country boy, Williams' life quickly changed. "[34], On March 10, Marshall was called again to testify. The original members were guitarist Braxton Schuffert, fiddler Freddie Beach, and comedian Smith "Hezzy" Adair. It provided the title for the 1964 biographical film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton as Williams. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams' hits and his cover version of other songs. Hank Williams died of drug and alcohol abuse at the age of 29. 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. He had 2 stepmothers and a mother. 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. Roy Acuff leads a host of country stars singing at the funeral of Hank Williams. Williams was born with a mild undiagnosed case of spina bifida occulta, a disorder of the spinal column, which gave him lifelong paina factor in his later abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that he and the Drifting Cowboys could work full-time. [35] His recent win at the Empire Theater and the street performances caught the attention of WSFA producers who occasionally invited him to perform on air. [13][14], As a child, Williams was nicknamed "Harm" by his family and "Herky" or "Skeets" by his friends. She was a headstrong, recently divorced mother of a 2-year-old, six months his senior and also a musician. Among other fake titles, he said that he was a Doctor of Science. [8] He was of English and Welsh ancestry,[9][10][11][12] and he was also of Muscogee, Choctaw, and Cherokee descent. Later life and death. On New Year's Day 1953, he took his seat in the back of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac. [26] His final single released during his lifetime was ironically titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." 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.". "I saw that the overcoat and blanket that had been covering Hank had slipped off," Carr told yet another reporter. He wrote songs weekly to perform during the shows. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains. The Georgiana native hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to perform a concert planned in Canton, Ohio. [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". Lillie was unwilling to let him reclaim his position as the head of the household. Over the next several years he churned out a number of other big hits, including "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey Good Lookin'," "Lost Highway," and I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." [23] Despite his medical condition, the family managed fairly well financially throughout the Great Depression. A quick study, Williams learned how to play folk, country and, thanks to an African-American street musician named Rufus Payne, the blues. [16] Williams' father was frequently relocated by the lumber company railway for which he worked, and the family lived in many southern Alabama towns. Hank Williams, Jr., was only 3 years old when his father died ("Hank".Bio para.4). It was swelling in him like a great body of water behind a massive dam, Lyons said. While Jett was a college junior at the University of Alabama in Montgomery majoring in recreation therapy, her adoptive . In February 2005, the Tennessee Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling stating that Williams' heirsson, Hank Williams Jr, and daughter, Jett Williamshave the sole rights to sell his recordings made for a Nashville radio station in 1951. His iconic status was amplified by his death at age 29 and by his reputation for hard living and heart-on-the-sleeve vulnerability. But along with this early success came increased erratic behavior from Williams, who often showed up at live performances drunk. While her son was not on the stage, his song I Saw The Light opened the show. The song resonated with music fans, as well as executives at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, who invited Williams to perform. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. A doctor injected Williams with B12 and morphine and porters carried the legendary singer-songwriter to the car. James Ellis Garner later played fiddle for him. Williams said he did not, and those are believed to be his last words. His body was initially transported to Montgomery and placed in a silver coffin shown at his mother's boarding house. In 1930, when Williams was seven years old, Elonzo began experiencing facial paralysis. In regards to her half-brother and where they stand today, Jett said: As far as having a personal relationship, we dont have like a brother-sister relationship, but we do get along; we do business and I think the world does realize that both of us have our dads best interest at heart.. His hair began falling out, and he put on 30 extra pounds. [77] It was the second marriage for both (each being divorced with children). Williams had married his second wife, Billie Jean Jones in October 1952, as 14,000 people looked on in Louisiana where Williams hosted radio shows after being fired from the Grand Ole Opry in August of that year. Instead, Williams died 67 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1953. In 1977, a national organization of CB truck drivers voted "Your Cheatin' Heart" as their favorite record of all time. A doctor injected. As people across his native Alabama picked up their newspapers that day, they were greeted with the tragic news Williams had died. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [94] He also wrote that Williams had been severely beaten and kicked in the groin recently (during a fight in a Montgomery bar a few days earlier), and local magistrate Virgil F. Lyons ordered an inquest into Williams' death concerning a welt that was visible on his head. However, she was to marry someone else before the . GitHub export from English Wikipedia. [131] In 1993, a double-disc set of recordings of Williams for the Health & Happiness Show was released. [48] With Williams beginning to be recognized as a songwriter,[49] Sheppard became his manager and occasionally accompanied him on duets in some of his live concerts. 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 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'. [1] His alcoholism worsened in 1952. Williams' version became a huge country hit; the song stayed at number one on the Billboard charts for four consecutive months,[56] and gained Williams a place in the Grand Ole Opry. [35] On March 12, 1953, Billie Jean Jones appeared before the Oklahoma committee. [19] In 1935, they settled in Garland, Alabama, where Lillie opened a new boarding house; they later moved with Williams' cousin Opal McNeil to Georgiana, Alabama,[20] where Lillie took several side jobs to support the family despite the bleak economic climate of the Great Depression. 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. There he sang "Hey Good Lookin'", and the next week Como opened the show singing the same song, with apologies to Williams. Hank Williams is considered one of the most popular American country music singer/songwriters with songs like "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." [34] Lillie Williams became the Drifting Cowboys' manager. [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. [11] Carr later drove on until he stopped for fuel at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he discovered Williams seemingly asleep in the back seat. Malinin found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of [the] right ventricle of [the] heart." [15] That evening, when the announcer at Canton announced Williams's death to the gathered crowd, they started laughing, thinking that it was just another excuse. [112] He was ranked second in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003, behind only Johnny Cash who recorded the song "The Night Hank Williams Came To Town". [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! Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [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. [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. Also, the Drifting Cowboys were at the time backing Ray Price, while Williams was backed by local bands. Charles Carr told the AJC in 2002 he was the only witness when Hank Williams died. His breakthrough moment came in 1949 with the release of Lovesick Blues, an old show tune that Williams parlayed into a chart-topping hit, an invitation to join the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and international fame. 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). Discover Hank Williams' Death Car in Montgomery, Alabama: Cadillac where country's first big star was found dead. He purchased the DSC title for $25 from the Chicago School of Applied Science; in the diploma, he requested that the DSc be spelled out as "Doctor of Science and Psychology". All Rights Reserved. His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on the same list. [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.). Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel, but the porters had to carry Williams to the car as he was coughing and hiccuping. In 1947, he released "Move It on Over", which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. Williams, Sheppard, and the Drifting Cowboys band in 1951 The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. The station's owner called the local police chief. 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. The identity of her famous father remained a mystery to her until her early twenties. By the time he'd moved with his mother to Montgomery in 1937, Williams' music career was already in motion. [84], A man named Lewis Fitzgerald (born 1943) claimed to be Williams' illegitimate son; he was the son of Marie McNeil, Williams' cousin. Montgomery, Alabama - Family at Hank Williams memorial unveiling. Under the name of Dr. C. W. Lemon he prescribed Williams with amphetamines, Seconal, chloral hydrate, and morphine, which made his heart problems worse. After the failure of his audition, Williams and Audrey Sheppard attempted to interest the recently formed music publishing firm Acuff-Rose Music. Marshall gave Cunningham a list of his patients, including Hank Williams. [85] In 2005, the BBC documentary series Arena featured an episode on Williams. A little more than a year later, on December 30, 1952, Williams, newly married to a younger woman named Billie Jean, left his mother's home in Montgomery for Charlestown, West Virginia. [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. 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. Stars of the Grand Ole Opry were expected along with thousands of fans to bid farewell to Williams. Elonzo stayed to celebrate his son's birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana. Father and son rarely saw each other over the next decade, with Williams' mother, who ran rooming houses, moving the family to Greenville and later Montgomery, Alabama. The court rejected claims made by PolyGram Records and Legacy Entertainment in releasing recordings Williams made for the Mother's Best Flour Show. For Hank to have lived even a normal life span, he would have had to avoid chemical dependence. [26] During the funeral four women fainted and a fifth was carried out of the auditorium in hysterics after falling at the foot of the casket. A. Williams told a story in later concerts that attributed his name change to a cat's yowling. Ernest Tubbs began the funeral with Beyond the Sunset and Red Foley and The Statesman Quartet sang Peace In The Valley.. Hank Williams became one of America's first country music superstars, with hits like "Your Cheatin' Heart," before his early death at 29. Years of back pain, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse severely compromised Williams' health. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. [6] The family's first child, Ernest Huble Williams, was born on July 5, 1921; he died two days later. One woman was carried out after she collapsed. Rock Icon KISS Is Saying Goodbye (For Real), Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Hank Williams, Birth Year: 1923, Birth date: September 17, 1923, Birth State: Alabama, Birth City: Mount Olive, Birth Country: United States. [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]. A rookie Tennessee highway patrol officer, Swann Kitts, told reporters he had stopped the Cadillac and fined Carr $25 for speeding, The United Press reported on Jan. 2, 1952. 1 (three posthumously). His childhood was also shaped by his spinal condition, spina bifida, which set him apart from other kids his age and fostered a sense of separation from the world around him. That night, the singers body was taken back to Montgomery. [101] Released in July, "I Won't Be Home No More" went to No. Tributes to Williams took place the day after his death. Defending his position, he claimed that Williams possibly committed suicide. He died of a heart attack in a drug- and alcohol-induced stupor in the backseat of a car, probably in West Virginia, while being driven from Knoxville, Tennessee, to a concert in Canton, Ohio. It was something he apparently saw coming. She worked in a cannery and served as a night-shift nurse in the local hospital. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. [74], In June 1952, he recorded "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", "Window Shopping", "Settin' the Woods on Fire", and "I'll Never Get out of this World Alive". A line of thousands filled two-and-a-half city blocks as the funeral procession carried Hank to Oakwood Cemetery. In full support of Williams' musical aspirations was his mother, Lillie. The suit demanded that both of the publishing companies continue to pay her half of the royalties from Hank Williams' records. "I think he had a profound sadness in him," says Marc Abraham, writer and director of I Saw The Light. Williams was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most significant country music artists of all time. [93] Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. [133] In May 2014, further radio recordings by Williams were released. As the titles of some of Williams' songs suggest, heartbreak and turmoil were never that far from his life. In Knoxville, Tennessee, the two stopped at the Andrew Johnson Hotel. Hank Williams decided he wanted to go ahead with the performances he had scheduled on . Finally, after not hearing from the singer for two solid hours, the driver pulled the car over in Oak Hill, West Virginia, at 5:30 in the morning. At a Veterans Affairs clinic in Pensacola, Florida, doctors determined that the cause was a brain aneurysm, and Elonzo was sent to the VA Medical Center in Alexandria, Louisiana. Celebrity Births Deaths and Ages Hank Williams Sr. His father actually died January 1, 1953, and of course Jr was 3 years old. She stated that she received after Williams' death a bill for $800 from Marshall for the treatment. On December 11, 1946, in his first recording session, he recorded "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul", "Calling You", "Never Again (Will I Knock on Your Door)", and "When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels", which was misprinted as "When God Comes and Fathers His Jewels". Around this time, he met Billie Jean Jones, a girlfriend of country singer Faron Young, at the Grand Ole Opry. Most of the material was written by Williams himself, in some cases with the help of Fred Rose and his son Wesley. Carr talked to Williams for the last time when they stopped at a restaurant in Bristol, Virginia. After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing Williams' song "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to him, the crowd realized that he was indeed dead and began to sing along. [97] His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama, and the largest event ever held in Montgomery. His substance abuse problems continued to spiral out of control as he moved to Nashville and officially divorced Sheppard. His father was a Mason and his mother was a member of the. It was placed in a silver coffin that was first shown at his mother's boarding house at 318 McDounough Street for two days. The prolific musician and performer wrote songs such as "Your Cheatin' Heart," drank too much whiskey, had family problems. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Probably taught his first chords by Payne, Williams began playing the guitar at age 8. It is unimportant whether you liked his songs, whether in your opinion he created ugliness or beauty. Best Known For: Hank Williams became one of America's first country music superstars, with hits like "Your Cheatin' Heart," before his early death at 29. Regardless, Carr said he next drove to "a cut-rate gas station". [100] "Take These Chains From My Heart" was released in April 1953 and reached No. [77] The next day, two public ceremonies were held at the New Orleans Civic Auditorium, where 14,000 seats were sold for each. [141] The original acetates made their way to the possession of Jett Williams. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. One year later, he released a cover of "Lovesick Blues", a huge country hit, which propelled him to stardom on the Grand Ole Opry. Hanks first and second wives watched from the front pew. The marriage was always turbulent and rapidly disintegrated, and Williams developed serious problems with alcohol, morphine, and other painkillers prescribed for him to ease the severe back pain caused by his spina bifida occulta. The popular song "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" became a hit for Hank Williams in 1949. The important thing is that he made millions of people happy, an editorial in The Advertiser stated on Jan. 3, 1953. In addition, her relationship with Williams' mom proved complicated. "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 . Williams, who was recently separated from WSM "for failure to make appearances," was a resident of Montgomery, Ala. As a youth he sold peanuts and shined shoes, meanwhile strumming on a. 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.