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[103][104] Alabama governor Gordon Persons officially proclaimed September 21 "Hank Williams Day". 1 on the country charts. 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. [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. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. [82], On October 18, 1952, Williams and Billie Jean Jones were married by a justice of the peace[83] in Minden, Louisiana. She drove her son and his band to shows throughout southern Alabama. She stated that she received after Williams' death a bill for $800 from Marshall for the treatment. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains. The local record shops sold out of all of their records, and customers were asking for all records ever released by Williams. You wrote only what happened to you and the people around you, Advertiser columnist Allen Rankin wrote on the day of the funeral. However, much of what led to his non-sobriety is exactly what made his music as good as it was. The song was number one on the country charts for six weeks. While Jett was a college junior at the University of Alabama in Montgomery majoring in recreation therapy, her adoptive . It was placed in a silver coffin that was first shown at his mother's boarding house at 318 McDounough Street for two days. His song "Your Cheatin' Heart" was written and recorded in September 1952, but released in late January 1953 after his death. Died On: 1953: How old was Hank Williams Sr.? Under the name of Dr. C. W. Lemon he prescribed Williams with amphetamines, Seconal, chloral hydrate, and morphine, which made his heart problems worse. Advertisement. He acknowledged that in previous testimony he had falsely claimed to be a physician. Best Answer. "[25] An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. "[34], On March 10, Marshall was called again to testify. Lillie Stone, Audrey Williams, and Hank Williams, Jr., seated on a bed while looking through letters and cards received after the death of Hank Williams, Sr. His life and career were the subject of I Saw the Light, a 2015 biopic, starring Tom Hiddleston as Williams and Elizabeth Olsen as his first wife, Audrey. [75], On August 11, 1952, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness and missing shows. Hank Williams died of drug and alcohol abuse at the age of 29. Hank Williams, Sr. was an American singer-songwriter and musician who had a net worth equal to $100 thousand at the time of his death after adjusting for inflation (approximately $10 thousand in 1953) He was only 29. 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. [121] In 1999, Williams was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame. [35], Williams' successful radio show fueled his entry into a music career. Hanks first and second wives watched from the front pew. Lyons recalled how Hank rose from being a shoeshine boy to star of the stage. In 1951, Williams hosted a 15-minute show for Mother's Best Flour on WSM radio. He remained hospitalized for eight years, rendering him mostly absent throughout Williams' childhood. [42] He continued to show up for his radio show intoxicated, so in August 1942 the WSFA radio station fired him for "habitual drunkenness". Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. [125][126] In July 2020, his granddaughter Katherine (Hank Jr.'s daughter) died in a car crash at the age of 27. A year after first meeting with Rose, Williams had his first hit, "Move It On Over." Having interviewed Carr, the best that Peter Cooper of The Tennessean could offer was that "somewhere between Mount Hope and Oak Hill", Carr noticed Williams' blanket had fallen off. Instead of performing, Williams died 70 years ago today, on Jan. 1, 1953. He died in the back seat of his Cadillac while being driven to a gig on New Year's Day 1953. 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. Hank Williams Jr. was performing his father, Hank Sr.'s, songs on stage at age 8. His name was misspelled as "Hiriam" on his birth certificate, which was prepared and signed when he was 10 years old. A. After an autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart.". Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. The Opry eventually fired him, and in 1952, he and Sheppard divorced. Cardwell injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that also contained a quarter-grain (16.2 mg) of morphine. [10] Carr and Williams headed out of Knoxville from the Andrew Johnson Hotel via Gay Street to Magnolia Ave to 11w. The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. [13][14], As a child, Williams was nicknamed "Harm" by his family and "Herky" or "Skeets" by his friends. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. ), He was racked by physical and emotional afflictions, and these coupled with his gift of song, made him kin to millions.. [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. [12] Stamey and Janney found some empty beer cans and the unfinished handwritten lyrics to a song yet to be recorded in the Cadillac convertible. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The lanky guitar player with twangy voice began his musical career in Montgomery, singing over WSFA, the newspaper reported. 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. [29] Around two tons of flowers were sent. [57] On June 11, 1949, Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry, where he became the first performer to receive six encores. Williams, who wrote most of his songs himself, crafted direct, emotionally honest lyrics that had a poetic simplicity that spoke not only to fans of country and western music but to a much broader audience, as evidenced by the pop hit crooner Tony Bennett had with his cover of Cold, Cold Heart in 1951. She was a headstrong, recently divorced mother of a 2-year-old, six months his senior and also a musician. [141] The original acetates made their way to the possession of Jett Williams. Williams' son, Hank Williams Jr., and widow, Billie Jean Williams Berlin, currently split the royalties. Stars of the Grand Ole Opry were expected along with thousands of fans to bid farewell to Williams. They later drove to Oak Hill in search of a hospital, stopping at a Pure Oil station on the edge of town. His substance abuse problems continued to spiral out of control as he moved to Nashville and officially divorced Sheppard. Ultimately, the completion of the album included recordings by Alan Jackson, Norah Jones, Jack White, Lucinda Williams, Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Patty Loveless, Levon Helm, Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, and Merle Haggard. 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. By the end of 1952, Williams had started to have heart problems. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. At his mothers request, the concert in Canton went on as planned. [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". On New Year's Day 1953, he took his seat in the back of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac. The 27-year-old was driving the car, which was. [131] In 1993, a double-disc set of recordings of Williams for the Health & Happiness Show was released. In full support of Williams' musical aspirations was his mother, Lillie. He formed the Drifting Cowboys backup band, which was managed by his mother, and dropped out of school to devote his time to his career. After determining that Williams was dead, Carr asked for help from the owner of the station who notified the police. [28] His musical style contained influences from Payne along with several other country influences, among them Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, and Roy Acuff. Born and raised in Alabama, Williams was given guitar lessons by African-American blues musician Rufus Payne in exchange for meals or money. His father was a railroad engineer who was also a victim of shell shock after a year of fighting in France in 1918 during World War I and spent many years in veterans hospitals. Picking up the guitar for the first time at the age of eight, Williams was just 13 when he made his radio debut. He was one of the finest young men that we ever knew, Acuff said. [17] From that time on, Lillie assumed responsibility for the family. In June, he divorced Audrey Williams,[2] and on August 11, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness. "I saw that the overcoat and blanket that had been covering Hank had slipped off," Carr told yet another reporter. 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. [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". [45] Sheppard later told Williams that she wanted to move to Montgomery with him and start a band together and help him regain his radio show. 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. His father actually died January 1, 1953, and of course Jr was 3 years old. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 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. Picking up the guitar for the first time at the age of eight, Williams was just 13 when he made his radio debut. It was all in Hanks heart. Williamss music itself was not especially groundbreaking, though he was a deft synthesizer of blues, honky-tonk country, western swing, and other genres. He was dead on arrival at an Oak Hill hospital, the front page of The Alabama Journal read. His first wife and his mother were the driving forces behind having the marriage declared invalid, and they pursued the matter for years. [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". At 11:25 p.m., Hank Williams was arrested in Alexander City at the Russell Hotel for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. [34] With Hill's help, the family began collecting the money. As a result, he was not considered a reliable performer. It provided the title for the 1964 biographic film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton. He denied any responsibility in both deaths. The performances greatly increased Williams' name recognition, but he still lacked a number one hit. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 was 17, a freshman on break from Auburn. [139] On October 22, 1975, a federal judge in Atlanta, Georgia, ruled Horton's marriage to Williams was valid and that half of Williams' future royalties belonged to her.[140]. [52] Rose signed Williams to a six-song contract, and leveraged this deal to sign Williams with Sterling Records. [90], At around midnight on January 1, 1953, when the two crossed the Tennessee state line and arrived in Bristol, Virginia, Carr stopped at a small all-night restaurant and asked Williams if he wanted to eat. Carr talked to Williams for the last time when they stopped at a restaurant in Bristol, Virginia. The break had to come, he added. [112] He 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". Stamey. He had 2 stepmothers and a mother. He also wrote a number of religious songs under the pseudonym Luke the Drifter. 7. 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. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him number 74 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. [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. Date Of Birth : [37] On March 21, Robert Travis of the State Crime Bureau determined that Marshall's handwriting corresponded to that of Dr. Cecil W. Lemmon on six prescriptions written for Williams. On New Year's Day 1953, at the age of 29, Williams suffered from heart failure while being driven to his next scheduled concert in Charleston, West Virginia, and died suddenly in the back seat of the car in Oak Hill, West Virginia. On the evening of Dec. 30, 1952, the restless, rail-thin 29-year-old tossed and turned in bed at his home in Montgomery, Ala. Defending his position, he claimed that Williams possibly committed suicide. [97] His funeral was said to have been far larger than any ever held for any other citizen of Alabama, and the largest event ever held in Montgomery. A doctor injected Williams with B12 and morphine and porters carried the legendary singer-songwriter to the car. His mother adopted Jett, who was made a ward of the state after her grandmother died and then adopted by another couple. Long plagued by alcoholism, Williams fell ill at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville on the last night of 1952. There was desire, burden, fear, ambition, reverse after reverse, bitter disappointment, joy, success, sympathy, love for people. Carr requested a doctor for Williams, who was feeling the combination of the chloral hydrate and alcohol he consumed on the way from Montgomery. In 1946, Williams traveled to Nashville to meet with music publisher Fred Rose and the Acuff-Rose Publications company. [142], For other people named Hank Williams, see. A doctor injected. [105] Williams had 11 number one country hits in his career ("Lovesick Blues", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me", "Moanin' the Blues", "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'", "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive", "Kaw-Liga", "Your Cheatin' Heart", and "Take These Chains from My Heart"), as well as many other top 10 hits. [18], In the fall of 1934, the Williams family moved to Greenville, Alabama, where Lillie opened a boarding house next to the Butler County courthouse. The recordings, which Legacy Entertainment acquired in 1997, include live versions of Williams' hits and his cover version of other songs. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia on Wednesday, December 31 (New Year's Eve), 1952. One year later, he released a cover of "Lovesick Blues", a huge country hit, which propelled him to stardom on the Grand Ole Opry. Due to Williams' tour schedules, some of the shows were previously recorded to be played in his absence. Audrey Williams divorced him that year; the next day he recorded "You Win Again" and "I Won't be Home No More". No, Hank Williams Sr is not single. The Georgiana native hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to perform a concert planned in Canton, Ohio. However, his plaintive, bluesy phrasing was unique and became a touchstone of country music. 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. 29, January 1st 1953. [35] On March 12, 1953, Billie Jean Jones appeared before the Oklahoma committee. He was driving Hank Williams, 29, who died that night. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. If he came to this conclusion (of suicide), he still had enough prestige left as a star to make a first-class production of it whereas, six months from now, unless he pulled himself back up into some high-class bookings, he might have been playing for nickels and dimes on skid row. [79], On December 15, 1944, Williams married Audrey Sheppard. Because a corpse was involved, Stamey called in radio officer Howard Janney. [107] He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame[108] in 1961 and into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1985. [134] Gimarc contacted Williams' daughter Jett, and Colin Escott, writer of a biography book on Williams. Marshall gave Cunningham a list of his patients, including Hank Williams. Why was Hank Williams an alcoholic? During an initial hearing, Marshall insisted that he was a doctor, refusing to answer further statements. The song, backed by "Kaw-Liga", was No. [85] In 2005, the BBC documentary series Arena featured an episode on Williams. Williams and her son, Hank Jr., became estranged after he turned 18. He purchased the DSC title for $35 from the "Chicago School of Applied Science"; in the diploma, he requested that the DSc was spelled out as "Doctor of Science and Psychology". Hiram "Hank" Williams died on January 1, 1953, at the age of 29. Heart failure and hard living did him in. In regards to her half-brother and where they stand today, Jett said: As far as having a personal relationship, we dont have like a brother-sister relationship, but we do get along; we do business and I think the world does realize that both of us have our dads best interest at heart.. (An audio recording of the funeral begins at the 7:30 mark of the video below. [97], Williams' final single, released in November 1952 while he was still alive, was titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive". A doctor injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that contained morphine. 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. Hank Williams, Jr., was only 3 years old when his father died ("Hank".Bio para.4). [113] In the 1980 Canadian film, Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave, Williams is portrayed by singer Sneezy Waters. [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].