92 Facts About Hank Williams

Hiram King "Hank" Williams was an American singer, songwriter, and musician.

Hank Williams formed the Drifting Cowboys backup band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career.

In 1944, Hank Williams married Audrey Sheppard, who competed with his mother to control his career.

Hank Williams released the hit single "Move It On Over" in 1947 and joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program.

Hank Williams was dismissed by the Grand Ole Opry because of his unreliability and alcoholism.

Hank Williams died on New Year's Day 1953 at the age of 29, his heart failing in the back seat of a car near Oak Hill, West Virginia, en route to a concert in Canton, Ohio.

Hank Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame in 1999, and gained a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Hank Williams was born on September 17,1923, in the rural community of Mount Olive in Butler County, Alabama.

Hank Williams was the third child of Jessie Lillybelle "Lillie" and Elonzo Huble "Lon" Williams.

Hank Williams was named after Hiram I of the Book of Kings.

Hank Williams's name was misspelled as "Hiriam" on his birth certificate, which was prepared and signed when he was 10 years old.

Hank Williams was born with spina bifida occulta, a birth defect of the spinal column that caused him lifelong pain and became a major factor in his later alcohol and drug abuse.

At the age of three, Hank Williams sat with his mother as she played the organ at the Mount Olive Baptist Church.

Hank Williams received his first musical instrument, a harmonica, at the age of six.

In 1930, when Hank Williams was seven years old, Elonzo began experiencing facial paralysis.

Hank Williams remained hospitalized for eight years and was mostly absent throughout Williams's childhood.

Hank Williams learned to play basic guitar chords from his aunt and listened to music that was played at dances and in area churches.

Hank Williams worked in a cannery and served as a night-shift nurse in the local hospital.

Hank Williams told Hill that her mother was interested in talking to him about her problems.

Later on, Hank Williams recorded "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", one of the songs Payne had taught him.

Hank Williams was influenced by country acts such as Roy Acuff.

In 1937, Hank Williams got into a fight with his physical education teacher about exercises the coach wanted him to do.

Payne and Hank Williams lost touch, though Payne eventually moved to Montgomery, where he died in poverty in 1939.

Hank Williams later credited him as the provider of the only musical training he ever had.

Hank Williams wrote the lyrics and used the tune of Riley Puckett's "Dissatisfied".

Hank Williams never learned to read music; instead he based his compositions in storytelling and personal experience.

Hank Williams showed up unannounced at the family's home in Montgomery.

Hank Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that he and the Drifting Cowboys could work full-time.

Lillie Hank Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows.

Meanwhile, between tour schedules, Hank Williams returned to Montgomery to host his radio show.

Many of their replacements quit the band due to Hank Williams's worsening alcoholism, and in August 1942 WSFA fired him for "habitual drunkenness".

Hank Williams started a job as a shipfitter's helper for the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company at Mobile in 1942, working there off and on for about a year and a half during the war.

Hank Williams worked briefly at Kaiser Shipyards in Portland, Oregon, apparently lured by the free tickets, free accommodations, free training, and good wages offered by the company.

In 1943, Hank Williams met Audrey Sheppard at a medicine show in Banks, Alabama.

In 1945, back in Montgomery, Hank Williams returned to WSFA radio.

Hank Williams attempted to expand his repertoire by writing original songs, and he published his first songbook, Original Songs of Hank Williams, containing "I'm Not Coming Home Anymore" and several more original songs, nine in all, including one not written by him, "A Tramp on the Street".

On September 14,1946, Hank Williams auditioned for Nashville's Grand Ole Opry at the recommendation of Ernest Tubb, but was rejected.

Audrey asked Rose if her husband could sing a song for him at that moment, Rose agreed, and perceived that Hank Williams had much promise as a songwriter.

The Sterling releases of Hank Williams's songs became successful, and Rose decided to find a larger label for future releases.

Hank Williams signed with MGM Records in 1947 and released "Move It on Over", which became a country hit.

Hank Williams's version was a hit; the song stayed at number one on the Billboard charts for four consecutive months.

On June 11,1949, Hank Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he received six encores.

Hank Williams brought together Bob McNett, Hillous Butrum, Jerry Rivers and Don Helms to form the most famous version of the Drifting Cowboys.

Hank Williams's career reached a peak in the late summer of 1951 with his Hadacol tour of the US with Bob Hope and other actors.

Hank Williams eventually gave the acetate to Hank Williams, Jr.

On November 14,1951, Hank Williams drove with Bill Lister and the Drifting Cowboys to New York where he appeared on television for the first time with Perry Como on CBS's Perry Como Show.

On May 21,1951, Hank Williams was admitted to North Louisiana Sanitarium in Shreveport for treatment of his alcoholism and his back problem, and was released on May 24.

Hank Williams was discharged against medical advice on Christmas Eve wearing a back brace and consuming more painkillers, to the detriment of his already compromised health.

Audrey Hank Williams divorced him that year; the next day he recorded "You Win Again" and "I Won't Be Home No More".

Hank Williams returned to Shreveport to perform on KWKH and WBAM shows and in the Louisiana Hayride, for which he toured again.

Hank Williams's 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.

Hank Williams met Horace "Toby" Marshall in Oklahoma City, who said that he was a doctor.

Hank Williams 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".

The marriage was always turbulent and rapidly disintegrated, and Hank 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.

In June 1952, Hank Williams moved into a house on the corner of Natchez Trace and Westwood Avenue in Nashville, sharing it with singer Ray Price.

Hank Williams's mother adopted Jett, who became a ward of the state after her grandmother's death.

Hank Williams was adopted and raised by an unrelated couple and did not learn that she was Williams's daughter until the early 1980s.

Fitzgerald was interviewed, and he suggested that Lillie Hank Williams operated a brothel at her boarding house in Montgomery.

Hank Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia, on New Years Eve, December 31,1952.

Back in Knoxville, the two arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel, and Carr requested a doctor for Hank Williams, who was affected by the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had consumed on the way to Knoxville.

Carr and Hank Williams checked out of the hotel, but the porters had to carry Hank Williams to the car.

Carr later mentioned that Hank Williams had severe hiccups, while the porters said that he had made a coughing sound twice.

Hank Williams wrote that Williams had been severely beaten and kicked in the groin recently, and local magistrate Virgil F Lyons ordered an inquest into Williams's death concerning a welt that was visible on his head.

That evening in Canton, when Hank Williams's death was announced to the gathered crowd, a few people started laughing because they thought it was a joke.

Akron deejay Cliff Rodgers assured the crowd that it was no joke and that Hank Williams was indeed dead.

Hank Williams's remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery.

The Country Music Hall of Fame stressed that Hank Williams "set the agenda for contemporary country songcraft" and the "standard by which success is measured in country music".

Hank Williams had 11 number one country hits in his career, as well as many other top 10 hits.

On February 8,1960, Hank Williams's star was placed at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Hank Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, and into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1985.

Hank Williams 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".

Canadian singer Sneezy Waters performed as Williams in the stage play Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave.

In 1999, Hank Williams was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, Lewis Fitzgerald's son Ricky billed himself as Hank Williams IV following his father's claim of being Williams's son.

Hank Williams said that Bob Dylan was given the first opportunity to perform 12 songs for a CD compilation.

Hank Williams later said that although Dylan had said nothing about them at first, she recognized them immediately as her grandfather's work.

Hank Williams then said he had been asked to possibly cut an entire album, or that he might have other artists perform them.

Hank Williams heard nothing more about it for two years until Mary Martin revived the project and she got a phone call from her publishing company saying it was time for her to pick up some samples of the available material.

The completed album, named The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, included the contributions of Bob Dylan and Holly Williams, as well as recordings by Alan Jackson, Jack White, Jakob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Norah Jones, Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Levon Helm, Sheryl Crow, and Merle Haggard.

Material recorded by Hank Williams, originally intended for radio broadcasts to be played when he was on tour or for its distribution to radio stations nationwide, resurfaced over the years.

In May 1953, Audrey Hank Williams filed a lawsuit in Nashville against MGM Records and Acuff-Rose.

Hank 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.

At the time of his death, Hank Williams's estate was estimated to be US$13,329.25 between cash, a cashier's check and his possessions.

Lilly Hank Williams considered the legality of Billie Jean's marriage to her son doubtful and she filed for the control of the estate.

Hank Williams's mother expressed to the Montgomery County Department of Public Welfare in January 1953 her intention to adopt the child.

However, upon Lilly's death in 1955, Irene Hank Williams assumed control of the estate.

Hank Williams became thus the legal guardian of Williams's son, while refusing to adopt Cathy.

Cathy was then put up for adoption and granted money from the estate of Lilly Hank Williams, to be paid at the age of 21.

In 1966, an Alabama judge determined that the guardianship of Hank Williams's estate belonged to Irene Hank Williams, and he confirmed the validity of the copyright renewal deal.

At the age of 21, Cathy learned that Hank Williams was her biological father.

Hank Williams learned that the court decisions of the 1960s ignored her existence.

In 1951, Hank Williams hosted a 15-minute show for Mother's Best Flour on WSM radio.