Hank Williams

Widely recognized as the originator of modern country sounds, Hank Williams reached superstar status upon turning 25 and then passed away at 29. Across that brief span he set enduring precedents for every country artist who came after him while shaping wide swaths of mainstream popular music. He composed a catalog of songs that turned into timeless standards, and his plainspoken, emotionally charged lyrics and delivery established the template followed by countless later performers.

Born Hiram King Williams in Mount Olive, Alabama, on September 17, 1923, he received his first guitar from his mother at the age of eight. Local blues street performer Rufus Payne, known as Tee Tot, supplied his early musical training. From Payne the youngster absorbed guitar technique and blues phrasing that later infused his own compositions with a deep, persistent current. While still in his early teens Williams began playing in the Georgiana and Greenville regions of Alabama. After his mother relocated the household to Montgomery in 1937 and opened a boarding house, he assembled the Drifting Cowboys and secured a recurring slot on local station WSFA in 1941. During those broadcasts he performed material drawn from his hero Roy Acuff along with other contemporary country hits; the station nicknamed him “the Singing Kid,” and he remained on its roster for the rest of the decade.

In 1943 Williams encountered Audrey Mae Sheppard, a farm girl from Banks, Alabama, while performing at a medicine show. They married the next year and moved into Lilly’s boarding house; shortly before the wedding Audrey assumed the role of his manager. By 1946 he enjoyed local fame yet struggled to break through nationally. That year Hank and Audrey traveled to Nashville hoping to meet songwriter and publisher Fred Rose, co-founder of Acuff-Rose Publishing. Rose admired the songs and arranged two recording sessions for Sterling Records that yielded the singles “Never Again” (December 1946) and “Honky Tonkin’” (February 1947). Both enjoyed success, prompting an MGM Records contract early in 1947 with Rose serving as manager and producer.

Later in 1947 “Move It on Over” appeared as his first MGM single and quickly climbed into the country Top Five. By summer 1948 Williams had joined The Louisiana Hayride, performing on both its radio programs and tours. “Honky Tonkin’” returned in 1948, followed by “I’m a Long Gone Daddy,” each achieving respectable chart placement though neither matched the earlier hit. Early in 1949 he cut “Lovesick Blues,” a Tin Pan Alley number originally recorded by Emmett Miller and popularized by Rex Griffin. Released that spring, the track spent 16 weeks at number one and crossed into the pop Top 25. At the Grand Ole Opry he performed it to an unprecedented six encores, confirming his arrival as a major star.

In spring 1949 Hank and Audrey welcomed their first child, Randall Hank. Around the same time he assembled the best-known lineup of the Drifting Cowboys, including guitarist Bob McNett, bassist Hillous Butrum, fiddler Jerry Rivers, and steel guitarist Don Helms. The group soon commanded $1,000 per concert while selling out venues nationwide. Following “Lovesick Blues,” Williams placed no fewer than seven additional hits on the charts in 1949, among them the Top Five singles “Wedding Bells,” “Mind Your Own Business,” “You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave),” and “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.” A steady stream of 1950 releases included the number-one smashes “Long Gone Lonesome Blues,” “Why Don’t You Love Me,” and “Moanin’ the Blues,” plus the Top Ten entries “I Just Don’t Like This Kind of Livin’,” “My Son Calls Another Man Daddy,” “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me,” “Why Should We Try,” and “Nobody’s Lonesome for Me.” That year he also began cutting spiritual sides under the pseudonym Luke the Drifter.

Further successes arrived in 1951, starting with the Top Ten “Dear John” and its number-one B-side “Cold, Cold Heart.” Pop vocalist Tony Bennett’s own rendition of the latter brought widespread acclaim and triggered covers by Jo Stafford, Guy Mitchell, Frankie Laine, Teresa Brewer, and others. Williams himself tasted crossover exposure, appearing on the Perry Como television program and joining a package tour alongside Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Minnie Pearl. Additional 1951 hits encompassed the chart-topping “Hey, Good Lookin’” together with the Top Ten tracks “Howlin’ at the Moon,” “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You),” “Crazy Heart,” “Lonesome Whistle,” and “Baby, We’re Really in Love.”

Despite soaring professional fortunes, Hank’s personal life began unraveling. A moderate drinking issue that predated stardom had remained largely in check during his early years of fame, yet large earnings and lengthy absences from home soon led to heavier drinking. His marriage to Audrey deteriorated amid frequent arguments, intermittent separations, and her unsuccessful attempts to launch her own recording career. During a fall 1951 hunting trip on his Tennessee farm he fell, reactivating an old back injury. Doctors prescribed morphine and other painkillers, to which he rapidly grew addicted.

In January 1952 Hank and Audrey separated permanently; he returned to Montgomery to live with his mother. The move scarcely affected his chart momentum, as “Honky Tonk Blues” reached number two that spring. Five more 1952 singles—“Half as Much,” “Jambalaya,” “Settin’ the Woods on Fire,” “You Win Again,” and “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive”—all landed in the Top Ten. Even so, Williams grew increasingly reckless, remaining intoxicated for most waking hours, consuming drugs, damaging property, and brandishing firearms.

Early that spring he left his mother and moved in with Ray Price in Nashville. May brought the official divorce; Audrey received the house, custody of their child, and half of future royalties. Williams maintained a heavy touring schedule yet appeared drunk onstage and occasionally missed dates entirely. In August the Grand Ole Opry dismissed him for those reasons, stating he could return once sober. He ignored the warning and sank deeper into self-destructive patterns. Friends drifted away: the Drifting Cowboys began working with Price, and Fred Rose withdrew his support. Williams continued appearing on The Louisiana Hayride but now performed with pickup bands for reduced pay. That fall he met 19-year-old Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar, daughter of a Louisiana policeman; they married by October. Also in October he signed an agreement to support the unborn child of another girlfriend, Bobbie Jett. By year’s end he suffered heart trouble, and a fraudulent physician named Toby Marshall supplied various prescription drugs.

Williams was booked for a January 1, 1953 concert in Canton, Ohio. Weather prevented a flight from Knoxville, Tennessee, on New Year’s Eve, so he hired a teenage chauffeur to drive him in his new Cadillac. Before departure a doctor administered two injections of vitamin B-12 and morphine. Williams climbed into the backseat (reportedly carrying a bottle of whiskey), and the driver set out. Stopped for speeding, the officer observed that Hank appeared lifeless. Taken to a West Virginia hospital, he was pronounced dead at 7:00 a.m. on January 1, 1953, having expired en route in the car. The final single issued during his lifetime was “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive.”

Three days later he was buried in Montgomery, Alabama. His funeral drew a record crowd, larger than any since Jefferson Davis’s 1861 inauguration as President of the Confederacy. Numerous country stars attended, joined by Audrey Williams, Billie Jean Jones, and Bobbie Jett, who delivered a daughter three days afterward. “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” immediately ascended to number one after his death and was followed by further 1953 hits, including the chart-toppers “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Kaw-Liga,” and “Take These Chains From My Heart.”

Eager to keep releasing material, MGM overdubbed bands onto surviving demos. The first such effort, “Weary Blues from Waitin’,” became a hit, though later ones proved less successful. In 1961 Williams ranked among the inaugural inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Throughout the 1960s his catalog appeared in overdubbed editions featuring lush strings and reprocessed stereo. For years those altered versions constituted the only available pressings; only with the advent of compact-disc reissues in the 1980s was the original sound restored. Even while those modified recordings circulated, Williams’s influence never waned. His compositions entered the standard repertoire, his performances proved timeless, and his biography became the stuff of legend. It is therefore unsurprising that many regard Hank Williams as the central figure in country music history.