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. Because Williams may have left no will, the disposition of the remaining 50 percent was considered uncertain; those involved included Williams' second wife, Billie Jean Horton and her daughter, and Williams' mother and sister. 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". Williams remains a beloved albeit tragic figure in country music and his work continues to influence musicians to this day. Defending his position, he claimed that Williams possibly committed suicide. It provided the title for the 1964 biographic film of the same name, which starred George Hamilton. Jett Williams, 39, was born to Bobbie Jett five days after Williams died. His hair began falling out, and he put on 30 extra pounds. Probably taught his first chords by Payne, Williams began playing the guitar at age 8. At around midnight on New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1, 1953, they crossed the Tennessee state line and arrived in Bristol, Virginia. In 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip in Tennessee, reactivating his old back pains. He was dismissed by the Grand Ole Opry because of his unreliability and alcoholism. Roy Acuff leads a host of country stars singing at the funeral of Hank Williams. The house had a small garden on which they grew diverse crops that Williams and his sister Irene sold around Georgiana. [35] On March 12, 1953, Billie Jean Jones appeared before the Oklahoma committee. 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). After Hawkshaw Hawkins and other performers started singing Williams' song "I Saw the Light" as a tribute to him, the crowd realized that he was indeed dead and began to sing along. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. Best Answer. In April 1948, he scored a second Billboard success with "Honky Tonkin.'". 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. It could be argued, in fact, that his early death only enhanced his legend. People from 35 states were said to have made the trip to say farewell to Hank. When new wife Billie Jean asked what was the matter, she claimed his. 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.. The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. Carr told Cooper this happened at the side of the road six miles from Oak Hill, but investigating officer Howard Janney placed it in the Skyline Drive-In restaurant's parking lot, noting that Carr sought help from a Skyline employee. Red Foley, Roy Acuff, and Ernest Tubb, among others, sang Williamss gospel-influenced I Saw the Light at his funeral, which was attended by thousands. Alabamians mourned the death of their Hank, expressing themselves to newspapers, radio stations and to relatives staying at the home of the stars mother, that report continued. [74], In June 1952, he recorded "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)", "Window Shopping", "Settin' the Woods on Fire", and "I'll Never Get out of this World Alive". Corrections? When he played on his guitar, he played on the heart-strings of millions, pastor Henry Lyons of Highland Avenue Baptist Church told the crowd gathered on Perry Street. Later that year he received his first recording contract, with Sterling Records; however, it was on the start-up label MGM that he had his first hit, Move It on Over in 1947. "[25] An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people passed by the silver coffin, and the auditorium was filled with 2,750 mourners. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [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. His physical appearance diminished, too. '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. [25][26] Payne's base musical style was blues. Advance ticket sales totaled $3,500. [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. Hanks first and second wives watched from the front pew. [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. 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. Beside Hanks coffin were two large wreaths shaped like guitars, another set of flowers was shaped like a Bible, two lamps were shining purple lights, and in his hands there was a small Bible. While Jett was a college junior at the University of Alabama in Montgomery majoring in recreation therapy, her adoptive . Regardless, Carr said he next drove to "a cut-rate gas station". Lillie Williams became the Drifting Cowboys' manager. Prior to that, duplicates were made and intended to be published by a third party. He returned to Shreveport, Louisiana, to perform on KWKH and WBAM shows and in the Louisiana Hayride, for which he toured again. He was very kind, and said Oak Hill General Hospital was six miles on my left," and that would place him in Mount Hope. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hank-Williams. [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". He wrote songs weekly to perform during the shows. [15] That evening, when the announcer at Canton announced Williams's death to the gathered crowd, they started laughing, thinking that it was just another excuse. He sang "Cold, Cold Heart", "Hey Good Lookin''", "Glory Bound Train" and "I Saw the Light" with other cast members, and a duet, "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love with You)" with Anita Carter. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [120] The same year, Hank Williams: The Complete Mother's Best RecordingsPlus! Father and son rarely saw each other over the next decade, with Williams' mother, who ran rooming houses, moving the family to Greenville and later Montgomery, Alabama. The pain and anguish that led him to drink could be heard in his songs. [13][14], As a child, Williams was nicknamed "Harm" by his family and "Herky" or "Skeets" by his friends. Long plagued by alcoholism, Williams fell ill at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville on the last night of 1952. After determining that Williams was dead, Carr asked for help from the owner of the station who notified the police. About 3,000 friends of the family shuffled through his mothers living room on Montgomerys North McDonough Street where Williams body was lain in state that Saturday night. He purchased the DSC title for $25 from the Chicago School of Applied Science; in the diploma, he requested that the DSc be spelled out as "Doctor of Science and Psychology". [35], Williams' successful radio show fueled his entry into a music career. Williams told a story in later concerts that attributed his name change to a cat's yowling. [103][104] Alabama governor Gordon Persons officially proclaimed September 21 "Hank Williams Day". Carr immediately realized that he was dead and informed the filling station's owner, Glenn Burdette, who called the chief of the local police, O.H. Tributes to Williams took place the day after his death. A doctor was called to examine him. They hit it off, and Williams asked Sheppard to marry him almost immediately. Among the hits he wrote were "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Hey, Good Lookin'", and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". In 1989, the Alabama State Supreme Court ultimately ruled in her favor and found her to be an equal heir, after an old document was recovered that showed Williams and Jett's mother had signed a shared custody agreement. 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. Chief Winfred Patterson who arrested Hank said to the Alabama Journal in 1971 that Hank was "more or less having DT's (delirium tremens). Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. [121] In 1999, Williams was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame. The performances greatly increased Williams' name recognition, but he still lacked a number one hit. [38] The same day, the District Attorney's office declared that after a new review of the autopsy report of Faye Marshall, toxicological and microscopic tests confirmed that her death on March 3 was not related to the medication prescribed by her husband. Later he would dull his physical pain with morphine, but alcohol remained his painkiller of choice when he sought to relieve the heartache of his tumultuous relationship with Audrey Sheppard, whom he married in 1942 (they divorced in 1952). A friend of the family denied his claims, but singer Billy Walker remembered that Williams mentioned to him the presence of men in the house being led upstairs. What we do know is that Williams died when he was just 29 years old. Jones declared "I have never accepted the report that my husband died of a heart attack. A 3-CD selection of the tracks, restored by Joe Palmaccio, was released by Time-Life in October 2008 titled The Unreleased Recordings. Williams was among the first class of artists inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, and in 2010, the Pulitzer Board awarded him a special citation for songwriting. [84], A man named Lewis Fitzgerald (born 1943) claimed to be Williams' illegitimate son; he was the son of Marie McNeil, Williams' cousin. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame in 1999. When he tried to move his hands, they snapped back to the same position the hotel porters had arranged him in. [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. The suit demanded that both of the publishing companies continue to pay her half of the royalties from Hank Williams' records. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. "I think he had a profound sadness in him," says Marc Abraham, writer and director of I Saw The Light. In 1952, he divorced Sheppard and married singer Billie Jean Horton. [83] After Williams' death, a judge ruled that the wedding was not legal because Jones' divorce had not become final until 11 days after she married Williams. Lyons recalled how Hank rose from being a shoeshine boy to star of the stage. The 27-year-old was driving the car, which was. Williams was an American singer-songwriter and musician regarded as one of the most significant country music artists of all time. His name was misspelled as "Hiriam" on his birth certificate, which was prepared and signed when he was 10 years old. [Part 1]", "Hank Williams Sr. makes his Grand Ole Opry debut", "The Year's Top Country and Western Records", "Hank Williams' last ride: Driver recalls lonesome end", Huber, Patrick, Goodson, Steve & Anderson, David 2014, Haislop, Neil, Lathrop, Tad & Sumrall, Harry 1995, "1985 Inductee: Lifework Award for Performing Achievement", "Hank Williams Wins Again, And Inspires Countless Covers | uDiscover", "Hank Williams receives additional Grammy Recognition as "Lovesick Blues" inducted into Grammy Hall of Fame", "The Beatles' catalogue wins 'Best Historical Album' Grammy", "Hank Williams: Native American group Inducts Him", "The 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners Special Awards and Citations", "Hilary Williams Details Her Brush with Death in 'Sign of Life', "New exhibit explores Hank Williams' family legacy", "Hilary Williams on Triumphant New Album 'My Lucky Scars,' Family Legacy", "Country Singer Hank Williams Jr.'s Daughter, 27, Killed in Tennessee Car Crash", "The Hank Williams Lineage Continues with Hank3's Son "IV", "Nashville Skyline: Hank Williams' Life After Death", "The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams to be released in October", "Nashville Skyline: Johnny Cash and Hank Williams: Got Some More Music Here", "Hear a newly discovered Hank Williams performance", "Six Decades Later, A Long-Lost Hank Williams Recording Resurfaces", "Newly Discovered Hank! Later on, Williams recorded "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", one of the songs that Payne taught him. [97], Williams' final single, released in November 1952 while he was still alive, was titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive". .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Rock Icon KISS Is Saying Goodbye (For Real), Rihanna and 10 Other Great Pregnant Performances, Burt Bacharachs Legacy: 5 Notable Collaborations, 2023 Grammy Awards: Six Winners Who Made History. Williams began his music career in Montgomery in 1937, when producers at local radio station WSFA hired him to perform and host a 15-minute program. Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She cried out, Hes gone gone over and over as firefighters helped her out. Williams' personal life took a major turn in 1943 when he met Audrey Mae Sheppard, who was the mother of a young daughter and had only recently left a messy marriage. . As his driver, college student Charles Carr, barreled toward a concert venue in Canton, Ohio, Williams' health took a turn for the worse. The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. Over the next several years he churned out a number of other big hits, including "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey Good Lookin'," "Lost Highway," and I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." He was severely injured after falling from a truck, breaking his collarbone and suffering a severe blow to the head. He was driving Hank Williams, 29, who died that night. Hank Williams became one of America's first country music superstars, with hits like "Your Cheatin' Heart," before his early death at 29. [77] The next day, two public ceremonies were held at the New Orleans Civic Auditorium, where 14,000 seats were sold for each. Police found empty beer cans and unfinished song lyrics in the Cadillac where Williams died. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him number 74 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. [27] Payne taught Williams chords, chord progressions, bass turns, and the musical style of accompaniment that he would use in most of his future songwriting. [71] During his recovery, he lived with his mother in Montgomery, and later moved to Nashville with Ray Price. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure, but there are many who say otherwise. His substance abuse problems continued to spiral out of control as he moved to Nashville and officially divorced Sheppard. 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. There he sang "Hey Good Lookin'", and the next week Como opened the show singing the same song, with apologies to Williams. Author Colin Escott concluded in his . Instead of performing, Williams died 70 years ago today, on Jan. 1, 1953. His body was initially transported to Montgomery and placed in a silver coffin shown at his mother's boarding house. Jeff Wallenfeldt, manager of Geography and History, has worked as an editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica since 1992. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys. Williams, Sheppard, and the Drifting Cowboys band in 1951 The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. His life and music received a fresh look in 2019 with Ken Burns' 16-hour documentary, Country Music, which prominently featured the icon in an episode titled "The Hillbilly Shakespeare.". [78] His final concert was held in Austin, Texas, at the Skyline Club on December 19. He was only 29. She stated that she received after Williams' death a bill for $800 from Marshall for the treatment. [24] During the ceremony, Ernest Tubb sang "Beyond the Sunset" followed by Roy Acuff with "I Saw the Light" and Red Foley with "Peace in the Valley. [16] Lillie Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows. 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. [41], The American entry into World War II in 1941 marked the beginning of hard times for Williams. [86] Fitzgerald was interviewed, and he suggested that Lillie Williams operated a brothel at her boarding house in Montgomery. 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. Hank Williams, the 29-year-old King of Country Music, was to have flown to Charleston, West Virginia for a New Years Eve concert but an ice storm near Nashville kept him away. You wrote only what happened to you and the people around you, Advertiser columnist Allen Rankin wrote on the day of the funeral. As the titles of some of Williams' songs suggest, heartbreak and turmoil were never that far from his life. [1] His alcoholism worsened in 1952. [7] Because of an ice storm in the Nashville area that day, Williams could not fly, so he hired a college student, Charles Carr, to drive him to the concerts. Hank Williams died of drug and alcohol abuse at the age of 29. 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. Encyclopedia of Alabama - Biography of Hank Williams Sr. Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum - Biography of Hank Williams, Alabama Music Hall of Fame - Biography of Hank Williams, Hank Williams - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1987). [33], He never learned to read music; instead he based his compositions in storytelling and personal experience. Roy Acuff, along with a host of countrys biggest stars, performed I Saw The Light., MONTGOMERY, AL - JANUARY 4: Guitar themed flower arrangements adorn the gravesite of country singer Hank Williams as he is laid to rest at the Oakwood Cemetary Annex on January 4, 1953 in Montgomery, Alabama. If this world should last a thousand years, Lyons said, Hank shall remain dear to millions of hearts.. This being the days of Jim Crow, the 200 Black mourners were in a segregated balcony. The prolific musician and performer wrote songs such as "Your Cheatin' Heart," drank too much whiskey, had family problems. 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. [70], In November 1951, Williams fell during a hunting trip with his fiddler Jerry Rivers in Franklin, Tennessee. In 1947, he released "Move It on Over", which became a hit, and also joined the Louisiana Hayride radio program. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. But along with this early success came increased erratic behavior from Williams, who often showed up at live performances drunk. A year later he was entering talent shows and had his own band, Hank. 1 on the country charts for six weeks. [82], On October 18, 1952, Williams and Billie Jean Jones were married by a justice of the peace[83] in Minden, Louisiana. In mid-June 2020, Katherine Williams-Dunning the daughter of country singer Hank Williams Jr. was killed in a car crash in Tennessee. Now free to travel without Williams' schooling taking precedence, the band could tour as far away as western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle. Malinin found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of [the] right ventricle of [the] heart." He attributed the decision to Williams' declining career: "Most of his bookings were of the honky-tonk beer joint variety that he simply hated. The day after Williams died, The Montgomery Advertiser recalled Williams as a former peanut vendor who learned to play guitar at age 6. The fall reactivated his old back pains. At cafes across the South, the paper added, his songs blared over radios as news of his death spread. In 1951, Williams hosted a 15-minute show for Mother's Best Flour on WSM radio. By the end of 1952, Williams had started to suffer heart problems. [127] His great-grandson Coleman Finchum, son of Hank Williams III, released his debut single credited to IV and the Strange Band in 2021. [69] On November 14, 1951, Williams flew to New York with his steel guitar player Don Helms where he appeared on television for the first time on The Perry Como Show. Years of back pain, alcoholism, and prescription drug abuse severely compromised Williams' health. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [114] Many artists of the 1950s and 1960s, including Elvis Presley,[115] Bob Dylan, Tammy Wynette, David Houston, Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard,[116] Gene Vincent,[117] Carl Perkins,[118] Ricky Nelson, and Conway Twitty[119] recorded Williams' songs during their careers. The song resonated with music fans, as well as executives at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, who invited Williams to perform. They later drove to Oak Hill in search of a hospital, stopping at a Pure Oil station on the edge of town. Meanwhile, Lewis Fitzgerald's son Ricky billed himself as Hank Williams IV following his father's claim of being Williams' son. [76] In October 1952 he married Billie Jean Jones. He was scheduled to perform a few gigs on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to see in. Williams and his wife approached Fred Rose, the president of the company, during one of his habitual ping-pong games at WSM radio studios. All rights reserved (About Us). Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel, but the porters had to carry Williams to the car as he was coughing and hiccuping. Omissions? One characteristic of Williams' recordings as "Luke the Drifter" is the use of narration rather than singing. While living in Georgiana, Williams met Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne, a street performer. [32] During the same year, he participated in a talent show at the Empire Theater. The song, backed by "Kaw-Liga", was No. As a result, he was not considered a reliable performer. Jones agreed to Williams's terms. The Journal that day reported WSFA received hundreds of calls and telegrams requesting the station play his songs. Little did he know that the woman he would fall in love with would be the key to his success. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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. [132] Broadcast in 1949, the shows were recorded for the promotion of Hadacol. [26] His final single released during his lifetime was ironically titled "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." He was dead on arrival at an Oak Hill hospital, the front page of The Alabama Journal read. [3] In October 1952, he married Billie Jean Jones. The investigating officer in Oak Hill declared later that Carr told him that he had pulled over at the Skyline Drive-In restaurant outside Oak Hill, and found Williams dead. Carr was exhausted and, according to the police reports, nervous enough to invite suspicion that foul play had been involved in Williams' death. It was her second marriage and his first. Elonzo stayed to celebrate his son's birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana. Carr and Williams checked out of the hotel at around 10:45p.m. Hotel porters had to carry Williams to his vehicle, an Olympic Blue 1952 Cadillac Series 62 convertible, as he was coughing and hiccupping. Despite his physical failings, Williams was cleared for more travel. [26] During the funeral four women fainted and a fifth was carried out of the auditorium in hysterics after falling at the foot of the casket. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. They began to fill the auditorium hours before the afternoon funeral. [43] The recordings "Never Again" and "Honky Tonkin'" became successful, and earned Williams the attention of MGM Records. 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) Also, the Drifting Cowboys were at the time backing Ray Price, while Williams was backed by local bands. He died in 1939, but his musical legacy would live on in Williams. Hank Williams decided he wanted to go ahead with the performances he had scheduled on . With Hill's help, the family began collecting the money. [93] Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. [5] He met Horace Raphol "Toby" Marshall in Oklahoma City, who claimed to be a doctor. At 11:25 p.m., Hank Williams was arrested in Alexander City at the Russell Hotel for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. All Rights Reserved. He showed up unannounced at the family's home in Montgomery. 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. [129][130], Material recorded by Williams, originally intended for radio broadcasts to be played when he was on tour or for its distribution to radio stations nationwide, resurfaced throughout time. Carr drove through the night as Williams declined his offer to stop for food. 1 on the country charts. Born in Banks, Alabama, in 1923, Audrey Mae Sheppard met her future husband, Hank, in high school. Williams was scheduled to perform at the Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, West Virginia. [6] The family's first child, Ernest Huble Williams, was born on July 5, 1921; he died two days later. 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. 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.