Hank Williams Jr. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hank Williams Jr.
Williams in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Randall Hank Williams
Born	(1949-05-26) May 26, 1949 (age 76) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Genres	Country rock southern rock outlaw country blues rock rock and roll
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter musician
Instruments	Vocals guitar banjo piano keyboards harmonica fiddle drums
Years active	1963–present
Labels	MGM Warner Bros. Curb Bocephus NASH Icon
Children	5, including Hank Williams III and Holly Williams

Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. His music mixes different styles like rock, blues, and country. He is the son of famous country musician Hank Williams. His children, Holly Williams and Hank Williams III, are also musicians. His grandson, Coleman Williams, also makes music. He is also the half-brother of Jett Williams.

Hank Williams Jr. started his music career by singing his famous father's songs and copying his style. He first appeared on TV in December 1963 on The Ed Sullivan Show when he was just fourteen years old. He sang many songs that his father was known for. Later that year, he was also a guest star on another TV show called Shindig!

As Hank Williams Jr. grew, he wanted to find his own unique sound in country music. His career was paused when he had a serious accident on August 8, 1975. He fell while climbing Ajax Peak in Montana. After a long time recovering, he restarted his career in the country rock music scene. Hank Williams Jr. plays many instruments, including guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, piano, keyboards, harmonica, fiddle, and drums. In 2020, he was added to the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is a big honor for country musicians.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Hank Williams Jr. was born Randall Hank Williams on May 26, 1949, in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father gave him the nickname Bocephus. This nickname came from a ventriloquist dummy used by a comedian named Rod Brasfield on the Grand Ole Opry show. After his father passed away in 1953, his mother, Audrey Williams, raised him.

When he was a child, many famous musicians visited his family. These musicians, like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, and Jerry Lee Lewis, taught him about different instruments and music styles. Hank Williams Jr. first sang his father's songs on stage when he was eight years old.

He went to John Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee. He often brought his guitar to music class and played for school events and choir performances.

Music Career Highlights

In 1964, Hank Williams Jr. released his first song, "Long Gone Lonesome Blues". This was one of his father's many classic songs.

He also sang for his father's character in the 1964 movie Your Cheatin' Heart. He even recorded an album where he sang duets with recordings of his father.

Finding His Own Sound

Even though Hank Williams Jr. had many country hits in the 1960s and early 1970s by sounding like his father, he wanted to do something different. He decided to change his musical style.

By the mid-1970s, Williams started to create his own unique music. This new direction would eventually make him a huge star. He moved to Alabama to focus on his music. There, he began playing with Southern rock musicians like Waylon Jennings and Charlie Daniels. Their work together led to his important album, Hank Williams Jr. and Friends (1975). This album was a big step in his career.

On August 8, 1975, Williams had a very serious mountain climbing accident in southwestern Montana. He fell almost 500 feet (about 152 meters) onto rocks. This caused many severe injuries to his skull and face. Williams spent two years recovering. He had to learn how to talk and sing again. He also had 17 surgeries to fix his skull and face. A TV movie called Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story was made about his accident and recovery. To hide his scars, Williams grew a beard and started wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat. This beard, hat, and sunglasses became his famous look.

In 1977, Williams released the albums One Night Stands and The New South. He also worked with his friend Waylon Jennings on the song "Once and For All". In 1980, he appeared on the PBS show Austin City Limits.

Becoming a Country Superstar

Williams performing at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, 2006

In 1976, Rolling Stone magazine said that Williams' "mainstream country material has always been among Nashville's best".

He released many albums throughout the 1980s, sometimes two a year. Albums like Family Tradition, Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, and Born to Boogie led to many hit songs.

Between 1979 and 1992, Williams released 21 albums that sold enough copies to be certified at least gold. From 1979 to 1990, he had 30 songs that reached the Top Ten on the Billboard Country charts. Eight of these songs reached No. 1. Overall, he had 44 Top Ten singles and 10 No. 1 singles in his career.

In 1982, he had nine albums on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at the same time. In 1987 and 1988, the Country Music Association named Williams Entertainer of the Year. He also won the same award from the Academy of Country Music in 1987, 1988, and 1989. His album Born to Boogie was very popular.

During the 1980s, Hank Williams Jr. became a huge country music star. He was known for his catchy songs and rock-influenced country style. Many of his songs, like "Family Tradition", "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound", and "Born to Boogie", became big hits.

His 1987 hit "Wild Streak" was co-written with Terri Sharp. In 1988, he released "If the South Woulda Won", a song about Southern pride.

His 1989 hit "There's a Tear in My Beer" was a special duet with his father. They used technology to combine old recordings of his father with new recordings of Hank Williams Jr. The music video showed his father performing, and then it looked like Hank Williams Jr. was playing with him. The video was very successful. It won Video of the Year from both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. Williams also won a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for the song.

He is also famous for his song "A Country Boy Can Survive". He performed the theme song for Monday Night Football, which was based on his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". From 1991 to 1994, Williams won four Emmy Awards for his Monday Night Football opening themes.

Williams in 2006

In 2000, he was the voice of Injun Joe in the movie Tom Sawyer. After the events of 9/11 in 2001, Williams Jr. rewrote his hit "A Country Boy Can Survive" and renamed it "America Can Survive". In 2004, he was featured on CMT Outlaws. In 2006, he performed at the Summerfest concert.

In April 2009, Williams released a new song, "Red, White & Pink-Slip Blues". This song was the first single from his album 127 Rose Avenue. The album reached number 7 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Musical Style and Instruments

Hank Williams Jr.'s music includes many styles: country, blues, rock, southern rock, country rock, rock and roll, blues rock, outlaw country, country blues, and rockabilly.

He is a multi-instrumentalist, meaning he plays many different instruments. These include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, piano, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica, fiddle, and drums. When he started his career, he mostly sang covers of his father's songs. Even though he played country music, Williams also enjoyed listening to rhythm and blues. He also recorded songs under other names, like Luke the Drifter Jr. (like his father's alias), Rockin' Randall, and Thunderhead Hawkins. Over time, Williams developed his own unique sound, mixing traditional country music with rock and blues.

Legacy and Awards

Many artists have said that Hank Williams Jr. influenced their music. These include Walker Hayes, Sam Hunt, and Gretchen Wilson.

From 1989 to 2011, his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" was used as the opening theme for Monday Night Football. It was changed to "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night". The song returned to open the show in 2017.

On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award at the 2006 CMT Music Awards. On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon. BMI Icons are artists and songwriters who have had a "unique and lasting influence on generations of music makers".

In 2011, Danny Fox of KWKH radio named Williams one of "Seven Living Legends" from his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. In 2015, Williams was added to the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. On August 12, 2020, Williams was chosen to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Hank Williams Jr. has five children. His daughter, Katherine Williams-Dunning, passed away in a car crash on June 13, 2020, at age 27. She was the only one of his children who did not become a musician. His son, Shelton, performs as Hank Williams III. His other children are Holly Williams and Sam Williams, who are also musicians. His grandson, Coleman Williams (Hank III's son), also performs music. His wife, Mary Jane Thomas, passed away on March 22, 2022, at age 58. On September 9, 2023, Williams married his long-time friend, Brandi.

Political Views

Hank Williams Jr. is a registered Republican, which is one of the main political parties in the United States. He has been involved with the party for many years. In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, he changed his song "We Are Young Country" to "This is Bush-Cheney Country" to support the Republican candidates. In 2008, he performed a song called "McCain-Palin Tradition" to support Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin. He has given money to political campaigns, mostly to Republicans.

In November 2008, Williams thought about running for a U.S. Senator position in Tennessee, but he decided not to.

Discography

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Hank Williams Jr. para niños