Jett, whose legal name is Cathy Deupree Adkinson, was raised by Williams' mother for two years until she died. 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. Despite his relatively brief career, he is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century, especially in country music. 1 on the country charts for six weeks. In June, he divorced Audrey Williams,[2] and on August 11, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness. In 1930, when Williams was seven years old, Elonzo began experiencing facial paralysis. [43] The recordings "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" became successful, and earned Williams the attention of MGM Records. [28] His musical style contained influences from Payne along with several other country influences, among them Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, and Roy Acuff. As his driver, college student Charles Carr, barreled toward a concert venue in Canton, Ohio, Williams' health took a turn for the worse. For Hank to have lived even a normal life span, he would have had to avoid chemical dependence. Wiki User. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but there are many who say otherwise. [5] He was the third child of Jessie Lillybelle "Lillie" (ne Skipper) (18981955) with Elonzo Huble "Lon" Williams (18911970). [127] His great-grandson Coleman Finchum, son of Hank Williams III, released his debut single credited to IV and the Strange Band in 2021. 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. [98][99] Williams' remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery. 1 (three posthumously). [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. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him number 74 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 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. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank. Beside Hanks coffin were two large wreaths shaped like guitars, another set of flowers was shaped like a Bible, two lamps were shining purple lights, and in his hands there was a small Bible. Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that he and the Drifting Cowboys could work full-time. You wrote only what you felt boil up inside you. [8] He was of English and Welsh ancestry,[9][10][11][12] and he was also of Muscogee, Choctaw, and Cherokee descent. Hank Williams Sr. He died in the back seat of his Cadillac while being driven to a gig on New Year's Day 1953. [111] In 1987, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the category "Early Influence". Their son, Randall Hank Williams (now known as Hank Williams Jr.), was born on May 26, 1949. They began to fill the auditorium hours before the afternoon funeral. Less than 48 hours later, Hank Williams was dead. [122] On April 12, 2010, the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded Williams a posthumous special citation that paid tribute to his "craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life". [30] Williams's remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery. His son, Hank Williams, Jr., a successful country performer in his own right (like Williamss grandson, Hank Williams III), sang Williamss songs in the film biography Your Cheatin Heart (1964). "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in 1952 but released in 1953 after Williams's death. [30] Payne and Williams lost touch, though Payne also eventually moved to Montgomery, where he died in poverty in 1939. Carr was 17, a freshman on break from Auburn. Under Williams' guidance, Sheppard started playing bass and began performing in his band. Liquored up and abusing morphine, he collapsed in a hotel room in Knoxville, Tennessee. 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. Keillor, Garrison. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hank-Williams. 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. [clarification needed][20], The body was transported to Montgomery on January 2. 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. [85] In 2005, the BBC documentary series Arena featured an episode on Williams. His passing did not bring about the end to his stardom, however. Hank Williams, the 29-year-old King of Country Music, was to have flown to Charleston, West Virginia for a New Year's Eve concert but an ice storm near Nashville kept him away. Around this time Williams released more hit songs, such as "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy", "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me", "Why Should We Try Anymore", "Nobody's Lonesome for Me", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me", "Moanin' the Blues", and "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living". [89] Dr. P. H. Cardwell injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that also contained a quarter-grain of morphine. The identity of her famous father remained a mystery to her until her early twenties. All Rights Reserved. Prior to that, duplicates were made and intended to be published by a third party. He was unresponsive and rigor mortis had already begun to set in. The couple were married in 1944 at a Texaco Station in Andalusia, Alabama, by a justice of the peace. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams' hits and his cover version of other songs. At around midnight on New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1, 1953, they crossed the Tennessee state line and arrived in Bristol, Virginia. [35], Williams' successful radio show fueled his entry into a music career. The suit demanded that both of the publishing companies continue to pay her half of the royalties from Hank Williams' records. [79], On December 15, 1944, Williams married Audrey Sheppard. By the time he'd moved with his mother to Montgomery in 1937, Williams' music career was already in motion. Williams and Sheppard married in 1944. Instead, Williams died 67 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1953. The 27-year-old was driving the car, which was. The lanky guitar player with twangy voice began his musical career in Montgomery, singing over WSFA, the newspaper reported. While Jett was a college junior at the University of Alabama in Montgomery majoring in recreation therapy, her adoptive . It provided the title for the 1964 biographical film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton as Williams. [113] In the 1980 Canadian film, Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave, Williams is portrayed by singer Sneezy Waters. A year after first meeting with Rose, Williams had his first hit, "Move It On Over." "I think he had a profound sadness in him," says Marc Abraham, writer and director of I Saw The Light. Since Williams' parents were both followers of Freemasonry,[7] Williams was named after Hiram I. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. There he sang "Hey Good Lookin'", and the next week Como opened the show singing the same song, with apologies to Williams. [16] The couple divorced on May 29, 1952. Hank Williams, Sr. passed away on January 1, 1953 at 29 years old.Hank Williams Net Worth. His mother stated that she bought it with money from selling peanuts, but many other prominent residents of the town claimed to have been the one who purchased the guitar for him. Hiram "Hank" Williams died on January 1, 1953, at the age of 29. The recordings were found by collector George Gimarc at radio station KSIB in Creston, Iowa. [15] He was born with spina bifida occulta, a birth defect of the spinal column, which gave him lifelong pain; this became a factor in his later alcohol and drug abuse. [100] "Take These Chains From My Heart" was released in April 1953 and reached No. Alternate titles: Hiram King Williams, the Hillbilly Shakespeare. He was driving Hank Williams, 29, who died that night. 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. After determining that Williams was dead, Carr asked for help from the owner of the station who notified the police. Died On: 1953: How old was Hank Williams Sr.? [39] Oklahoma Governor Johnston Murray revoked the parole of Horace Raphol "Toby" Marshall, who returned to prison to complete his forgery sentence.[40]. It was something he apparently saw coming. [8] Williams and Carr departed from Montgomery, Alabama at around 1:00p.m. Williams arrived at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Carr checked in at 7:08 p.m and ordered two steaks in the lobby to be delivered to their rooms from the hotel's restaurant. [41], The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. She worked in a cannery and served as a night-shift nurse in the local hospital. While living in Georgiana, Williams met Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne, a street performer. [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. Tributes to Williams took place the day after his death. He died of a heart attack at the age of 29 in 1953 in the backseat of his Cadillac. His funeral was held the next day, Sunday Jan. 4, 1953, at Montgomerys City Auditorium. [17] From that time on, Lillie assumed responsibility for the family. [125][126] In July 2020, his granddaughter Katherine (Hank Jr.'s daughter) died in a car crash at the age of 27. In Knoxville, Tennessee, the two stopped at the Andrew Johnson Hotel. The local record shops reportedly sold all their Williams records, and customers were asking for all records ever released by Williams. Lillie was unwilling to let him reclaim his position as the head of the household. In late 1951, he suffered a minor heart attack while visiting his sister in Florida. [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. Advance ticket sales totaled $3,500. [9] Dr. P.H. If this world should last a thousand years, Lyons said, Hank shall remain dear to millions of hearts.. No, Hank Williams Sr is not single. Sheppard, it seems, was extremely eager to make a mark in show business and, despite her obviously limited talent, pushed her husband to let her sing. [60] Williams released seven hit songs after "Lovesick Blues", including "Wedding Bells",[55] "Mind Your Own Business", "You're Gonna Change (Or I'm Gonna Leave)", and "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It". The newlyweds spent Christmas 1952 with Williamss mother in Montgomery. 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. 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. [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". The janitor was accused of theft, but the charges were later dropped when a judge determined that her version of events was true. [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. In full support of Williams' musical aspirations was his mother, Lillie. The worker claimed that she sold Williams' notes to a representative of the Honky-Tonk Hall of Fame and the Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. They later drove to Oak Hill in search of a hospital, stopping at a Pure Oil station on the edge of town. Williams and Sheppard lived and worked together in Mobile. [38] The same day, the District Attorney's office declared that after a new review of the autopsy report of Faye Marshall, toxicological and microscopic tests confirmed that her death on March 3 was not related to the medication prescribed by her husband. [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. This being the days of Jim Crow, the 200 Black mourners were in a segregated balcony. Williams was pronounced dead a short while later. [59] On May 21, he had been admitted to North Louisiana Sanitarium for the treatment of his alcoholism, leaving on May 24. [40] Williams' alcohol use started to become a problem during the tours; on occasion he spent a large part of the show revenues on alcohol. Picking up the guitar for the first time at the age of eight, Williams was just 13 when he made his radio debut. 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. And he looked so satisfied I can't help it if I'm still in love with you. In the 1970s, he created his own musical identity, combining country with Southern rock and blues. 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. If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing. [7] Because of an ice storm in the Nashville area that day, Williams could not fly, so he hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts. Jones agreed to Williams's terms. He had 2 stepmothers and a mother. He showed up unannounced at the family's home in Montgomery. . Stars of the Grand Ole Opry were expected along with thousands of fans to bid farewell to Williams. He returned to Shreveport, Louisiana, to perform on KWKH and WBAM shows and in the Louisiana Hayride, for which he toured again. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. A doctor injected Williams with B12 and morphine and porters carried the legendary singer-songwriter to the car. In 1953, months after Hank Sr.'s death, Williams paid his second wife, Billie Jean Jones, $30,000 to relinquish the title of "Hank Williams's Widow". [16] Williams' father was frequently relocated by the lumber company railway for which he worked, and the family lived in many southern Alabama towns. The Montgomery Auditorium, located at the intersection of Perry and Monroe Street, "Long forgotten Montgomery auditorium to see new life", "Convict Says Williams Depressed Singer Said Possible Suicide", "Name is Forged to Prescriptions, Expert Says", I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death_of_Hank_Williams&oldid=1137643276, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from December 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart, January 4, 1953 at Oakwood Annex Cemetery in, January 1, 1953 in Oak Hill, West Virginia, This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 18:47. What began with Williams writing material for singer Molly O'Day eventually gave way to a record contract with the recently created MGM label. [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]. Meanwhile, Lewis Fitzgerald's son Ricky billed himself as Hank Williams IV following his father's claim of being Williams' son. 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. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia on Wednesday, December 31 (New Year's Eve), 1952. Another researcher decided it could have happened at any of the gas stations near Mount Hope. [19] Carr's account of how he discovered that Williams was dead outside Oak Hill is challenged by Dr. Leo Killorn, a Canadian intern at Beckley hospital, West Virginia, fifteen miles from Oak Hill, who claims that Carr drove up to the hospital and asked him to see Williams. . Hank Williams was just 29-years-old when he died, but had lived quite a life in his short years. 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. Date Of Birth : [92] In Williams' Cadillac, the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics. [25][26] Payne's base musical style was blues. [142], For other people named Hank Williams, see. Williams was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most significant country music artists of all time. 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.". [57] On June 11, 1949, Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores. At cafes across the South, the paper added, his songs blared over radios as news of his death spread. Stamey. [91] Carr later drove on until he stopped for fuel at a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he realized that Williams had been dead for so long that rigor mortis had already set in. It provided the title for the 1964 biographic film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton. People from 35 states were said to have made the trip to say farewell to Hank. He later started to consume painkillers, including morphine, and alcohol to help ease the pain. His mother subsequently demanded that the school board terminate the coach; when they refused, the family moved to Montgomery, Alabama. That night, the singers body was taken back to Montgomery. 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. Audrey Williams divorced him that year; the next day he recorded "You Win Again" and "I Won't be Home No More". [62] 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. [66] In 1951, "Dear John" became a hit, but it was the flip side, "Cold, Cold Heart", that became one of his most recognized songs. [16] Lillie Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows. The investigating officer in Oak Hill declared later that Carr told him that he had pulled over at the Skyline Drive-In restaurant outside Oak Hill, and found Williams dead.
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