Hiriam Williams
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Hank Williams died on January 1, 1953 at age 29 from a drug/alcohol-related heart attack, at the peak of his fame. He is remembered for songs like Lovesick Blues, Hey, Good Lookin, and Jambalaya, and for defining honky-tonk music. Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 and received a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation in 2010.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Hank Williams — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Hank Williams by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Hank Williams — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At age six, Hank Williams learned gospel songs from his mother Lillian Skipper Williams, who played the organ at their local church. His father, a railroad engineer, suffered from shell shock after World War I and spent years in veterans hospitals. By age 10, Hank taught himself guitar by watching others, and he later learned blues chords from a black street musician named Tee-Tot Rufe Payne. At 14, he formed his own band and won a talent contest with his composition WPA Blues.
In 1946, Hank Williams traveled to Nashville and landed a publishing contract with Acuff-Rose by writing Mansion on the Hill on the spot for producer Fred Rose. He signed with MGM Records and became a regular on the radio show Louisiana Hayride. On June 11, 1949, he debuted on the Grand Ole Opry. From 1949 to 1952, he dominated the country charts with hits like Lovesick Blues, Cold, Cold Heart, and I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive. Heavy drinking led to suspensions and the departure of his band.
Hank Williams met his first wife Audrey Williams during a traveling medicine show and married her in December 1944 at an Alabama gas station. Audrey served as his booking agent and manager, but their constant fights over his drinking led to divorce in 1951. In October 1952, he married 19-year-old Billie Jean Jones in Minden, Louisiana, with 14,000 people attending the public ceremony. He fathered two children: Hank Williams Jr. and Jett Williams.
Hank Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He received a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation in 2010 and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His music continued to chart after his death, with Kaw-Liga spending 13 weeks at number one in 1953. Artists like Dion DiMucci cite Williams as their primary influence, and a life-size statue stands in Montgomery, Alabama.
Browse the complete filmography of Hank Williams — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Hank Williams — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Hank Williams's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Hank Williams — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
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.
You Got to Have Smelt a Lot of Mule Manure Before You Can Sing Like a Hillbilly.
Little-known facts about Hank Williams — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
June Carter Cash served as the godmother of Hank Williams Jr.
Tom Hiddleston portrayed Hank Williams in the 2015 biographical film I Saw the Light.
He married Billie Jean Jones in Minden, Louisiana, then performed the ceremony twice more for paying audiences at New Orleans Municipal Auditorium; 14,000 people bought tickets. After his death, Billie Jean received a lump sum from Audrey Williams to stop performing as Mrs. Hank Williams.
At his funeral, Roy Acuff sang I Saw the Light, Red Foley sang Peace in the Valley, and Ernest Tubb sang Beyond the Sunset.
The Hank Williams Festival is held each June in Georgiana, Alabama.
More than 35 years after his death, his son Hank Williams Jr. helped produce a father-and-son duet using an obscure acetate recording. The song There’s a Tear in My Beer reached number 7 on Billboard’s country singles chart in 1989.
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording is located at 6400 Hollywood Boulevard.
He was born with spina bifida, a spinal condition that caused him physical discomfort throughout his life.
A life-size bronze statue of him holding a guitar stands in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, across from City Hall, the site of many of his concerts and his funeral.
Life magazine ranked him number 1 on its list of The 100 Most Important People in Country Music in 1994.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted his song Hey, Good Lookin’ into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted him into the Walkway of Stars in 1969.
He is the father of country singer Jett Williams.
He was the third inductee into the Native American Music Hall of Fame in 1999, due to his Muskogee Creek and Cherokee ancestry.
In the 1989 duet video for Tear in My Beer with Hank Williams Jr., computer graphics were used to make Hank appear to sing the words, though the original clip was of him singing Hey, Good Lookin’.
He is interred at Oakwood Annex in Montgomery, Alabama.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961.
Even after his death in 1953, his hit Kaw-Liga spent 13 weeks at number 1 on Billboard’s country chart and became the number 1 country song of the year.
He is the grandfather of Holly Williams.
He is the grandfather of Hank Williams III.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1949.
He was the stepfather of Lycretia Williams.
He was the half-brother of Leila Griffin.
He was the cousin of Walt McNeil.
He was the cousin of Lewis Fitzgerald.
His final public appearance was at the Skyline Club in Austin, Texas on December 19, 1952.
According to steel guitarist Jimmy Grabowske, Hank was only able to perform for about half an hour at his last show, as he started shaking and could not continue.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Rolling Stone voted him the 74th greatest rock and roll artist of all time.
Doo-wop singer Dion DiMucci credited Hank Williams as his number 1 musical influence and covered Honky Tonk Blues on his Grammy-nominated album Bronx in Blue in 2007.
He was pictured on one of four 29-cent US commemorative postage stamps in the Legends of American Music series, featuring Country and Western music, issued September 25, 1993.
He recorded with Nashville guitarist Hank Garland.
He was the son of Alonzo Lon Williams and Lillie Williams.
His musical Hank Williams: Lost Highway at the American Blues Theater in Chicago was awarded the 2014 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Midsize Musical Production.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Hank Williams.
Celebrities similar to Hank Williams — same craft, ranked by reach.
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