Hank Williams Biography

Hank Williams was one of the superstars of modern country music when he died in 1953, at the age of 29. He began his career as a teenager in Montgomery, Alabama and began forming his own band, the Drifting Cowboys, around 1940. A recording session in Nashville in 1946 led to an MGM contract in 1947, and that year Williams had his first big hit, “Move It on Over.” By 1950 he was a touring and recording star, and his blend of blues and country drew fans from beyond the country music scene. Williams was born with a spinal problem, and surgery in 1951 only made things worse. He began taking painkillers and was earning a reputation as an unreliable drunk (the Grand Ole Opry fired him after three years, in 1952), but he was still popular with fans and continued to record a string of hit songs, including “Lovesick Blues,” “Hey, Good Lookin’,” “Cold, Cold Heart,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Jambalaya” and “Honky Tonk Blues.” On his way to a concert in Ohio he died in the back seat of his Cadillac while a companion was driving. Williams probably died the night of 31 December 1952, but was officially pronounced dead on 1 January 1953.