The prolific musician and performer wrote songs such as "Your Cheatin' Heart," drank too much whiskey, had family problems. Having only recently recorded what would become some of his best-loved songs -- including Kawliga and Your Cheatin Heart -- Williams performed his final concert in Austin, Texas on Dec. 19, 1952. At 11:25 p.m., Hank Williams was arrested in Alexander City at the Russell Hotel for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. "[36], On March 19, Marshall declared that he felt Williams was depressed and committed suicide by taking a higher dose of the drugs he had prescribed. He wrote songs weekly to perform during the shows. [clarification needed][20], The body was transported to Montgomery on January 2. However, much of what led to his non-sobriety is exactly what made his music as good as it was. A 3-CD selection of the tracks, restored by Joe Palmaccio, was released by Time-Life in October 2008 titled The Unreleased Recordings. The court rejected claims made by PolyGram Records and Legacy Entertainment in releasing recordings Williams made for the Mother's Best Flour Show. 1 on the country charts. But along with this early success came increased erratic behavior from Williams, who often showed up at live performances drunk. This addiction eventually led to his divorce from Audrey Williams and his dismissal from the Grand Ole Opry. At his mothers request, the concert in Canton went on as planned. Williams wrote the lyrics and used the tune of Riley Puckett's "Dissatisfied". He was unresponsive and rigor mortis had already begun to set in. [72], During the spring of 1952, Williams flew to New York with steel guitarist Don Helms, where he made two appearances with other Grand Ole Opry members on The Kate Smith Evening Hour. While Jett was a college junior at the University of Alabama in Montgomery majoring in recreation therapy, her adoptive . [30] Payne and Williams lost touch, though Payne also eventually moved to Montgomery, where he died in poverty in 1939. By the early 1940s, he'd caught the attention of music executives in Nashville. Later life and death. While living in Georgiana, Williams met Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne, a street performer. The worker claimed that she sold Williams' notes to a representative of the Honky-Tonk Hall of Fame and the Rock-N-Roll Roadshow. In April 1948, he scored a second Billboard success with "Honky Tonkin.'". Alternate titles: Hiram King Williams, the Hillbilly Shakespeare. From The Montgomery Advertiser. Defending his position, he claimed that Williams possibly committed suicide. Hank Williams had something that humanity universally needs -- a song with a heart-felt message.. [16] The couple divorced on May 29, 1952. [24], There are several versions of how Williams got his first guitar. Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel, but the porters had to carry Williams to the car as he was coughing and hiccuping. [141] The original acetates made their way to the possession of Jett Williams. He acknowledged that in previous testimony he had falsely claimed to be a physician. [80] In June 1952, Williams moved in with his mother, even as he released numerous hit songs such as "Half as Much" in April, "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" in July, "You Win Again" in September, and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive" in November. Omissions? The pain and anguish that led him to drink could be heard in his songs. [77] The next day, two public ceremonies were held at the New Orleans Civic Auditorium, where 14,000 seats were sold for each. Because a corpse was involved, Stamey called in radio officer Howard Janney. [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. The 27-year-old was driving the car, which was. [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. [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". "[44], He worked for the rest of the war for a shipbuilding company in Mobile, Alabama, as well as singing in bars for soldiers. He died in 1939, but his musical legacy would live on in Williams. Williams remains a beloved albeit tragic figure in country music and his work continues to influence musicians to this day. Here are more vintage images and stories of Alabamas past. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys. After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to Williams, the crowd, now realizing that he was indeed dead, followed them. The two were often rivals for Williams' time and attention. His funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium, with his casket placed on the flower-covered stage. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. As a boy, Williams was the musical protg of Rufus Payne, an African American street performer who went by the name Tee-Tot and busked on the streets of Georgiana and Greenville, Alabama. Hiram "Hank" Williams died on January 1, 1953, at the age of 29. People from 35 states were said to have made the trip to say farewell to Hank. The marriage was technically invalid, since Sheppard's divorce from her previous husband did not comply with the legally required 60-day trial reconciliation. His hair began falling out, and he put on 30 extra pounds. He was dead on arrival at an Oak Hill hospital, the front page of The Alabama Journal read. Advertisement. His 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 Sr. was born on Monday and have been alive for 10,699 days, Hank Williams Sr. next B'Day will be after 7 Months, 12 Days, See detailed result below. "Tom [Hiddleston, the actor portraying Williams] puts across that impending sense of doom. They later had a daughter named Irene. He had a message. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. [132] Broadcast in 1949, the shows were recorded for the promotion of Hadacol. Roy Acuff leads a host of country stars singing at the funeral of Hank Williams. Jones refused to pay, and further stated that Marshall later intended to convince her to pay him by assuring that he would "pave her the way to collect her husband's state". After the failure of his audition, Williams and Audrey Sheppard attempted to interest the recently formed music publishing firm Acuff-Rose Music. Born in Banks, Alabama, in 1923, Audrey Mae Sheppard met her future husband, Hank, in high school. He told Hill that his mother was interested in talking to him about his problems and her need to collect Elonzo's disability pension. 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. Also, the Drifting Cowboys were at the time backing Ray Price, while Williams was backed by local bands. Williams and his wife approached Fred Rose, the president of the company, during one of his habitual ping-pong games at WSM radio studios. On New Year's Day 1953, he took his seat in the back of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac. 29, January 1st 1953. The funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium, where an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 attended while the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. [71] On December 13, 1951, he had a spinal fusion at the Vanderbilt University Hospital, being released on December 24. [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. As people across his native Alabama picked up their newspapers that day, they were greeted with the tragic news Williams had died. The world he seemed to identify most with was the musical sounds that poured out of the radio and emanated from church choirs. His salary was enough for him to start his own band, which he dubbed the Drifting Cowboys. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains and causing him to be dependent on alcohol and prescription drugs. His son, Hank Jr., was ranked on the same list. The performances greatly increased Williams' name recognition, but he still lacked a number one hit. [54] After a few more moderate hits, in 1949 he released his version of the 1922 Cliff Friend and Irving Mills song "Lovesick Blues",[55] made popular by Rex Griffin. On . [43] The book only listed lyrics, since its main purpose was to attract more audiences, though it is also possible that he did not want to pay for transcribing the notes. Instead, Williams died 67 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1953. Hank Williams, byname of Hiram Williams, also called the Hillbilly Shakespeare, (born September 17, 1923, Georgiana, Alabama, U.S.died January 1, 1953, Oak Hill, West Virginia), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who in the 1950s arguably became country musics first superstar. [22] At a chance meeting in Georgiana, Williams met U.S. Representative J. Lister Hill while Hill was campaigning across Alabama. [71] During his recovery, he lived with his mother in Montgomery, and later moved to Nashville with Ray Price. Instead of performing, Williams died 70 years ago today, on Jan. 1, 1953. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he recorded 55 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 12 that reached No. Ernest Tubbs began the funeral with Beyond the Sunset and Red Foley and The Statesman Quartet sang Peace In The Valley.. Advance ticket sales totaled $3,500. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Date Of Birth : Since Williams' parents were both followers of Freemasonry,[7] Williams was named after Hiram I. Advance ticket sales totaled US$3,500 (equivalent to US$35,714.9 in 2011). While he was medically disqualified from military service after suffering a back injury caused by falling from a bull during a rodeo in Texas, his band members were all drafted to serve. 'The Garden Spot Programs' 1950", "Hank Williams' 'The Garden Spot Programs' Named Best Historical Album at the 2015 Grammy Awards", "Tom Hiddleston played country icon Hank Williams in biopic", "File Action to Untangle Hank Williams Estate", "Mother's Best, Hank's Best: A Conversation With Jett Williams and the Students", "The Year's Top Country & Western Artists/The Year's Top Country & Western Records", "PBS 'Country Music' - Native stories of Hank Williams Sr., Loretta Lynn and Peter La Farge", "Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame", "Country Music by Ken Burns Episode 3 The Hillbilly Shakespeare", Listing of all Hank Williams's songs and alternatives, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hank_Williams&oldid=1142672396, Special Awards and Citation for his pivotal role in transforming country music, This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:34. Marshall admitted that he had also prescribed chloral hydrate to his recently deceased wife, Faye, as a headache medicine. Hank Williams Sr. He returned to Shreveport, Louisiana, to perform on KWKH and WBAM shows and in the Louisiana Hayride, for which he toured again. In 1947, he released "Move It on Over", which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. The ceremony featured Ferlin Husky interpreting "I Saw the Light". [84], A man named Lewis Fitzgerald (born 1943) claimed to be Williams' illegitimate son; he was the son of Marie McNeil, Williams' cousin. Jett was then legally adopted. After an autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart.". As if straight out of a country song, it was revealed decades later that Williams had fathered a daughter, Jett, who was born shortly after his death. Another researcher decided it could have happened at any of the gas stations near Mount Hope. The album included unreleased songs. There he sang "Hey Good Lookin'", and the next week Como opened the show singing the same song, with apologies to Williams. 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. [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. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. [87] Carr called the Charleston auditorium from Knoxville to say that Williams would not arrive on time owing to the ice storm and was instead ordered to drive Williams to Canton, Ohio, for a New Year's Day concert there. After determining that Williams was dead, Carr asked for help from the owner of the station who notified the police. Stars of the Grand Ole Opry were expected along with thousands of fans to bid farewell to Williams. His mother adopted Jett, who was made a ward of the state after her grandmother died and then adopted by another couple. Since the revelation of her famous father, she initiated legal claims to his estate and battled her half-brother, who refused to acknowledge her for a long time. "I think he had a profound sadness in him," says Marc Abraham, writer and director of I Saw The Light. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank. They later drove to Oak Hill in search of a hospital, stopping at a Pure Oil station on the edge of town. "[25] An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. Keillor, Garrison. 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. Hank Williams, Jr., was only 3 years old when his father died ("Hank".Bio para.4). [61], In 1950, Williams began recording as "Luke the Drifter" for his religious-themed recordings, many of which are recitations rather than singing. "[34], On March 10, Marshall was called again to testify. It included 10 songs: "Mother Is Gone", "Won't You Please Come Back", "My Darling Baby Girl" (with Audrey Sheppard), "Grandad's Musket", "I Just Wish I Could Forget", "Let's Turn Back the Years", "Honkey-Tonkey", "I Loved No One But You", "A Tramp on the Street", and "You'll Love Me Again". [36] So many listeners contacted the radio station asking for more of "the singing kid", possibly influenced by his mother, that the producers hired him to host his own 15-minute show twice a week for a weekly salary of US$15 (equivalent to $300 in 2021). The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams' hits and his cover version of other songs. Hank Williams was born in September 1923 in a small Alabama farming community about 70 miles south of Montgomery. Probably taught his first chords by Payne, Williams began playing the guitar at age 8. [43] The recordings "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" became successful, and earned Williams the attention of MGM Records. It was something he apparently saw coming. He was severely injured after falling from a truck, breaking his collarbone and suffering a severe blow to the head. Arthur Whiting was also a guitarist for the Drifting Cowboys. The Georgiana native hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to perform a concert planned in Canton, Ohio. Now free to travel without Williams' schooling taking precedence, the band could tour as far away as western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. He also requested a doctor for Williams, as Williams was feeling the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he had drunk on the way from Montgomery to Knoxville. 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). [100] "Take These Chains From My Heart" was released in April 1953 and reached No. [32] During the same year, he participated in a talent show at the Empire Theater. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia on Wednesday, December 31 (New Year's Eve), 1952. [42] He continued to show up for his radio show intoxicated, so in August 1942 the WSFA radio station fired him for "habitual drunkenness". [133] In May 2014, further radio recordings by Williams were released. Jones declared "I have never accepted the report that my husband died of a heart attack. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He was very kind, and said Oak Hill General Hospital was six miles on my left," and that would place him in Mount Hope. [13], The town's coroner and mortician, Dr. Ivan Malinin, a Russian immigrant who barely spoke English, performed the autopsy on Williams at the Tyree Funeral House. Less than 48 hours later, Hank Williams was dead. [8] He was of English and Welsh ancestry,[9][10][11][12] and he was also of Muscogee, Choctaw, and Cherokee descent. That night, the singers body was taken back to Montgomery. It is unimportant whether you liked his songs, whether in your opinion he created ugliness or beauty. [33] In 1943, Williams met Audrey Sheppard at a medicine show in Banks, Alabama. Despite his physical failings, Williams was cleared for more travel. [41], The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. It was at this time that Williams decided to change his name informally from Hiram to Hank. Representative Cunningham presented the committee a telegram from Marshall's seized files, directed to the estate of Hank Williams for $736.39, and stated that the committee was evaluating the revocation of Marshall's parole. Carr talked to Williams for the last time when they stopped at a restaurant in Bristol, Virginia. 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.