[93] Dr. Ivan Malinin performed the autopsy at the Tyree Funeral House. Celebrity Births Deaths and Ages Hank Williams Sr. Hank Williams died on New Year's Day 1953, Montgomery funeral drew The result of the original autopsy indicated that Williams died of a heart attack. [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. Carr later kept driving until he reached a gas station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where Williams was discovered unresponsive in the back seat. "I went inside and an older guy, around 50, came back out with me, looked in the back seat, and said, 'I think you've got a problem'. [21] Their first house burned down, and the family lost their possessions. It was placed in a silver coffin that was first shown at his mother's boarding house at 318 McDounough Street for two days. "Long Gone Daddy: A Biography of Hank Williams, Country Music's Tragic Hero". [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". 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. Hiram "Hank" Williams died on January 1, 1953, at the age of 29. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. The Untold Truth Of Hank Williams Jr. - NickiSwift.com Cardwell injected Williams with two shots of vitamin B12 that also contained a quarter-grain (16.2 mg) of morphine. Here are more vintage images and stories of Alabamas past. . A doctor injected. 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. [92] In Williams' Cadillac, the police found some empty beer cans and unfinished handwritten lyrics. Hank Williams became one of America's first country music superstars, with hits like "Your Cheatin' Heart," before his early death at 29. Hanks first and second wives watched from the front pew. And he looked so satisfied I can't help it if I'm still in love with you. His iconic status was amplified by his death at age 29 and by his reputation for hard living and heart-on-the-sleeve vulnerability. People from 35 states were said to have made the trip to say farewell to Hank. He found hemorrhages in the heart and neck and pronounced the cause of death as "insufficiency of the right ventricle of the heart". [37], In August 1938, Elonzo Williams was temporarily released from the hospital. Because a corpse was involved, Stamey called in radio officer Howard Janney. Later on, Williams recorded "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It", one of the songs that Payne taught him. His mother was Audrey, and his step mothers were Bobbie Jett, who had his stepsister, and Billie Gean who was a widow just months after she married Williams, Sr. (Williams para.14). Meanwhile, between tour schedules, Williams returned to Montgomery to host his radio show. The song was number one on the country charts for six weeks. All Rights Reserved. A doctor was called to examine him. Prior to that, duplicates were made and intended to be published by a third party. Under the name of Dr. C. W. Lemon he prescribed Williams with amphetamines, Seconal, chloral hydrate, and morphine, which made his heart problems worse. Williams later credited him as his only teacher. He acknowledged that in previous testimony he had falsely claimed to be a physician. But coupled with Williams' obvious talents as a singer and songwriter was an increasing dependence on alcohol, which he'd started abusing in order to relieve his sometimes excruciating back pain. Williams married singer Audrey Sheppard, who was his manager for nearly a decade. [75], On August 11, 1952, Williams was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness and missing shows. Hank Williams died 70 years ago: 20,000 attended 1953 Alabama funeral Williams and Sheppard lived and worked together in Mobile. 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. During World War II Williams commuted between Mobile, where he worked in a shipyard, and Montgomery, where he pursued a musical career. Hank Williams is 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." They had a son together, .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Hank Williams Jr., on May 26, 1949. 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. 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. Hank Williams - Encyclopedia Britannica [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. Reporters answering telephoned queries concerning Williams death said many of the callers cried when informed that the reports were true.. On New Year's Day in 1953 the heart of country music was broken; the Shakespeare of Country Music died in the backseat of a powder blue Cadillac in Oak Hill, West Virginia on his way to a booking in Canton, Ohio. His first wife and his mother were the driving forces behind having the marriage declared invalid, and they pursued the matter for years. Hank Williams died 70 years ago: 20,000 attended 1953 Alabama funeral [34] It's hard to know another's lips will kiss you And hold you just the way I used to do Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Elonzo stayed to celebrate his son's birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana. [103][104] Alabama governor Gordon Persons officially proclaimed September 21 "Hank Williams Day". Hank Williams - Wikipedia After determining that Williams was dead, Carr asked for help from the owner of the station who notified the police. [123] Several members of Williams' descendants became musicians: Hank Williams Jr., daughter Jett Williams, grandsons Hank Williams III and Sam Williams, and granddaughters Hilary Williams[124] and Holly Williams are also country musicians. Williams had an agreement giving his first wife half of the royalties, but allegedly there was no clarification that the deal was valid after his death. [33] In 1943, Williams met Audrey Sheppard at a medicine show in Banks, Alabama. "When I pulled it back up, I noticed that his hand was stiff and cold." While her son was not on the stage, his song I Saw The Light opened the show. He remained hospitalized for eight years, rendering him mostly absent throughout Williams' childhood. [16] The couple divorced on May 29, 1952. I was a pretty good imitator of Roy Acuff, but then I found out they already had a Roy Acuff, so I started singin' like myself. The house had a small garden on which they grew diverse crops that Williams and his sister Irene sold around Georgiana. As his driver, college student Charles Carr, barreled toward a concert venue in Canton, Ohio, Williams' health took a turn for the worse. This addiction eventually led to his divorce from Audrey Williams and his dismissal from the Grand Ole Opry. They hit it off, and Williams asked Sheppard to marry him almost immediately. Defending his position, he claimed that Williams possibly committed suicide. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. The unfinished lyrics were later returned to Sony/ATV, which handed them to Bob Dylan in 2008 to complete the songs for a new album. Hank jr. was three years old when his father died in 1959. [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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Marshall had been previously convicted for forgery, and had been paroled and released from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1951. Death of Hank Williams - Wikipedia Jett was then legally adopted. He later started to consume painkillers, including morphine, and alcohol to help ease the pain. When several of his band members were drafted during World War II, he had trouble with their replacements, and WSFA terminated his contract because of his alcoholism. 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. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. 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". [16], The circumstances of Williams's death are still controversial. Died On: 1953: How old was Hank Williams Sr.? Carr was exhausted and, according to the police reports, nervous enough to invite suspicion that foul play had been involved in Williams' death. Around this time Williams released more hit songs, such as "My Son Calls Another Man Daddy", "They'll Never Take Her Love from Me", "Why Should We Try Anymore", "Nobody's Lonesome for Me", "Long Gone Lonesome Blues", "Why Don't You Love Me", "Moanin' the Blues", and "I Just Don't Like This Kind of Living". He died of a heart attack in a drug- and alcohol-induced stupor in the backseat of a car, probably in West Virginia, while being driven from Knoxville, Tennessee, to a concert in Canton, Ohio. Killorn stated that the fact that Carr told him it was Hank Williams caused him to remember the incident. He was unable to read or notate music to any significant degree. [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!