Hank Williams was born September 17, 1923, in Mount Olive, Alabama. Considered one of the most popular American country music singer/songwriters with songs like "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." He died of a heart attack at the age of 29 in 1953 in the backseat of his Cadillac.
Widely considered country music's first superstar, Hiriam "Hank" Williams was born September 17, 1923, in Mount Olive, Alabama. Cut from rural stock, Williams, the third child of Lon and Lillie Williams, grew up in a household that never had much money. His father worked as a logger before entering the Veterans Administration hospital when young Hank was just six. Father and son rarely saw each …show more content…
What began with Williams writing material for singer Molly O'Day eventually gave way to a record contract with the recently created MGM label. A year after first meeting with Rose, Williams had his first hit, "Move It On Over." In April 1948 he scored a second Billboard success with "Honky Tonkin.'" But along with this early success came increased erratic behavior from Williams, who often showed up at live performances drunk. For a time his relationship with Fred Rose deteriorated, but the two were able to mend fences, paving the way for Williams to become a regular on the "Louisiana Hayride," a regular Saturday night performance hosted by a radio station in Shreveport. The performances greatly increased Williams' name recognition, but he still lacked a number one hit. That all changed in 1949 with the release of "Lovesick Blues," a throwaway rendition of an old show tune he'd pushed to tape at the end of a recording session. The song resonated with music fans, as well as executives at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, who invited Williams to perform. In ways that must have seemed unimaginable to this poor country boy, Williams' life quickly changed. His stardom put money in his pocket and gave him the kind of creative freedom artists long for. Over the next several years he churned out a number of other big hits, including "Cold, Cold Heart," "Your Cheatin' …show more content…
As his success deepened, so did Williams' dependence on alcohol and morphine. The Opry eventually fired him, and in 1952 he and Sheppard divorced. His physical appearance diminished, too. His hair began falling out, and he put on 30 extra pounds. In late 1951 he suffered a minor heart attack while visiting his sister in Florida. A little more than a year later, on December 30, 1952, Williams, newly married to a younger woman named Billie Jean, left his mother's home in Montgomery for Charlestown, West Virginia. Liquored up and abusing morphine, he collapsed in a hotel room in Knoxville, Tennessee. A doctor was called to examine him. Despite his physical failings, Williams was cleared for more travel. On New Year's Day 1953, he took his seat in the back of his 1952 powder blue Cadillac. As his driver, college student Charles Carr, barreled toward a concert venue in Canton, Ohio, Williams' health took a turn for the worse. Finally, after not hearing from the singer for two solid hours, the driver pulled the car over in Oak Hill, West Virginia, at 5:30 in the morning. Williams was pronounced dead a short while later. His passing did not bring about the end to his stardom, however. It could be argued, in fact, that his early death only enhanced his legend. If Williams had lived, it's not entirely certain that the Nashville music community, so eager to shed its hillbilly