Hank Williams Jr.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Williams_Jr.

Early life and career Williams was born on May 26, 1949 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father nicknamed him Bocephus (after Grand Ole Opry comedian Rod Brasfield's ventriloquist dummy). After his father's death in 1953, he was raised by his mother, Audrey Williams. While he was a child, a number of contemporary musicians visited his family, who influenced and taught him various music instruments and styles. Among these figures of influence were Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, Earl Scruggs, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Williams first stepped on the stage and sang his father's songs when he was eight years old. In 1964, he made his recording debut with "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", one of his father's many classic songs. He attended John Overton High School in Nashville, where he would bring his guitar to music class and play for pep rallies and performances of the choir.

Williams provided the singing voice of his father[7] in the 1964 film Your Cheatin' Heart.[8] He also recorded an album of duets with recordings of his father.[7]

Although Williams's recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s with his role as a "Hank Williams impersonator", he became disillusioned and severed ties with his mother.

By the mid-1970s Williams began to pursue a musical direction that would eventually make him a superstar.[citation needed] While recording a series of moderately successful songs, Williams began a heavy pattern of both drug and alcohol abuse. Upon moving to Alabama, in an attempt to refocus both his creative energy and his troubled personal life, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians including Waylon Jennings, Toy Caldwell, and Charlie Daniels. Hank Williams Jr. and Friends (1975), often considered his watershed album was the product of these then-groundbreaking collaborations. In 1977 Williams recorded and released One Night Stands and The New South, and worked closely with his old friend Waylon Jennings on the song "Once and For All".

On August 8, 1975 Williams was nearly killed in a mountain-climbing accident. While he was climbing Ajax Peak in Montana, the snow beneath him collapsed and he fell almost 500 feet onto rock. He suffered multiple skull and facial fractures.[9] The incident was chronicled in the semi-autobiographical, made-for-television film Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story. He spent two years in recovery, having several reconstructive surgeries in addition to having to learn to talk and sing again. To hide the scars and the disfigurement from the accident, Williams grew a beard and began wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The beard, hat, and sunglasses have since become his signature look, and he is rarely seen without them. In 1980, he appeared on the PBS show Austin City Limits during Season 5, along with The Shake Russell-Dana Cooper Band.

Hank Williams Jr. – Official Website Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.

"Hank Wiolliams, Jr". IMDb. Retrieved August 8, 2018.

Buchalter, Gail (October 22, 1979). "Hank Williams Jr. Fell Down a Mountain and Lived Now He's Climbing High on the C&w Charts". People.com. 12 (17). Retrieved August 3, 2013.

"The Fall". Country Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 3, 2013.

"Hank Williams dropped from Monday Night Football - Richard Deitsch - SI.com". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. October 6, 2011. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-27.

"ESPN pulls Williams from MNF opening". ESPN.com. October 4, 2011.

Hank Williams Jr. interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)

"Your Cheatin' Heart". December 1, 1964 – via IMDb.

"Hank Williams visits W.Va. mine survivor". USA Today. January 11, 2006.

"Hank Williams Jr.: Hank William Jr. and Friends. By John Morthland : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". Retrieved 2018-06-25 – via Rock's Backpages. (Subscription required (help)).

Morris, Edward (July 21, 2009). "Hank Williams Jr. says new album is his last for Curb Records". Country Music Television. Retrieved 2009-07-24.

"Hank Williams, Jr. to be Honored as Icon at 56th Annual BMI Country Awards". bmi.com. Retrieved 2010-10-05.

"Wayne Grimes obituary". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved June 2, 2014.

"Living Legends of Shreveport – Danny Fox's Top 5". KWKH. Retrieved June 11, 2014.

"McCain–Palin Tradition" Archived February 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.

"Hank Williams Jr. – Federal Campaign Contribution Report". Newsmeat.com. Retrieved 2011-11-27.

"Hank Williams Jr. For Senate? - Real Clear Politics – TIME.com". Realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com. November 25, 2008. Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved 2011-11-27.

"ESPN pulls Hank Williams Jr. intro after singer links Obama with Hitler". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. October 3, 2011. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2011.

"ESPN, Hank Williams Jr. part ways". ESPN.com. October 6, 2010.

"ESPN – Hank Williams Jr. theme song won't return to Monday Night Football – ESPN". Espn.go.com. October 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-27.

"Hank Williams Jr.'s Son – My Dad Should NOT Talk Politics". TMZ.com. November 22, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-27.

Weir, Tom (October 10, 2011). "Hank Williams Jr. retaliates with song that slams Fox". USA Today.

"Hank Williams Jr. Thrives With Downloads, Media Coverage Surrounding Controversy". CMT News. October 12, 2011.

"Country Star Calls Obama 'a Muslim'". ABC News. August 20, 2012.

"ESPN bringing Hank Williams Jr. back to MNF open". June 5, 2017.

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