In Hank Williams biography, he died on New Years day in 1953.
In Hank Williams biography, each and every song he wrote and sang tells a story of basic life, of good times and bad, of love and hate, of sin and salvation. He sang them simply, soulfully, and with a sincerity that is quite uncommon. Hank Williams was one of the great originals of the music business.
He was born on a farm near Georgianna, Alabama, on September 17, 1923. He began singing in his early teens. His father was a veteran from World War One and entered a hospital when his son was five years old. By the age of seven Hank was shining shoes and selling peanuts in Montgomery, Alabama, to help out his family during the depression of the thirties. When he was twelve, he sang his first song in public, at the Empire Theatre and won first prize of fifteen dollars. When he was thirteen he organized his own band called, "The Drifting Cowboys" and played on Radio Station WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama Hank age 19, and Audrey Sheppard Guy, were married in a gas station in Andalusia, Alabama on December 15, 1944. Continuing with Hank Williams biography, in 1947 he joined the MGM Record Company, remaining with the company till his death. Hank signed a three-year contract, with the Louisiana Hayride in September 1952, and later with the top Country and Western program the Grand Ole Opry which was broadcasted over WSM in Nashville Tennessee.
On September 23, 1952, he recorded, "Your Cheating Heart" and "Take These Chains from My heart" at his very last recording session. These two songs became number 1 records after his death the following year. On the 18, December 1952 continuing with Hank Williams biography, he married Billie Jean Eshliman, in Minden, Louisiana . The following day they repeated the wedding in two separate public ceremonies. After his death, a judge ruled the wedding was not legal due to the fact that Billie Jean's divorce did not become final until eleven days after she married Hank. On January 1st 1953, Hank Williams died at the young age of 29 in the back seat of his blue 1952 Cadillac convertible. His funeral was held in Montgomery, Alabama in 1953. More than 24,000 people were in attendance at Montgomery's Oakwood Cemetery, to say goodbye to the 29-year-old superstar. The song, "Kaw-Liga" was released after his death in 1953. Continuing with Hank Williams biography, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961, and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Hank will not soon be forgotten as his songs remain to remind us of him. On September 17, 1998, the Country Music Hall of Fame displayed a new bronze statue of Hank Williams Sr. in honor of the legend's 75th birthday. His Mother once said, "His thoughts were always for his fans and he gave of himself to the last day".
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