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Hank Williams biography

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Quick Facts

  • PLACE OF DEATH: Oak Hill, West Virginia
  • Originally: Hiram King Williams
  • AKA: Luke the Drifter
more about Hank

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.

Synopsis

Hank Williams, 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.” Much of Hank's commercial success came after he died of a heart attack at age 29 in the back seat of his Cadillac. His son and grandson, both named Hank, sing country music.

Contents

Quotes

“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."
– Hank Williams

Profile

(born Sept. 17, 1923, Georgiana, Ala., U.S.—died Jan. 1, 1953, Oak Hill, W.Va.) American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who in the 1950s arguably became country music's first superstar. An immensely talented songwriter and an impassioned vocalist, he also experienced great crossover success in the popular music market. His iconic status was amplified by his death at age 29 and by his reputation for hard living and heart-on-the-sleeve vulnerability.

As a boy, Williams was the musical protégé of Rufus Payne, an African American street performer who went by the name Tee-Tot and busked on the streets of Georgiana and Greenville, Ala. Probably taught his first chords by Payne, Williams began playing the guitar at age 8. He made his radio debut at age 13; formed his first band, Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys, at age 14; and early on began wearing the cowboy hats and western clothing that later were so associated with him. During World War II Williams commuted between Mobile, where he worked in a shipyard, and Montgomery, where he pursued a musical career. At this stage Williams began abusing alcohol, a problem that haunted him the rest of his life but that came about partly as a result of his attempts to self-medicate agonizing back pain caused by a congenital spinal disorder. Later he would dull his physical pain with morphine, but alcohol remained his painkiller of choice when he sought to relieve the heartache of his tumultuous relationship with Audrey Sheppard, whom he married in 1942 (they divorced in 1952).

In 1946 Williams landed a songwriting contract with Acuff-Rose Publications and began composing material for singer Molly O'Day. 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. Shortly thereafter he became a regular on the newly created Louisiana Hayride radio program based in Shreveport, La. 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. 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 “I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive.” His extraordinary “Lost Highway” peaked at number

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