Williams began his career following in his famed father's footsteps, covering his father's songs and imitating his father's style. Williams' first television appearance was in a 1964 episode of ABC's The Jimmy Dean Show, in which at age fourteen he sang several songs associated with his father. Later that year, he was a guest star on Shindig!.
Williams' style evolved slowly as he struggled to find his own voice and place within country music. This was interrupted by a near-fatal fall off the side of Ajax Peak in Montana on August 8, 1975. After an extended recovery, he challenged the country music establishment with a blend of country, rock, and blues. As a multi-instrumentalist, Williams' repertoire of skills includes guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, dobro, piano, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica, fiddle, and drums.
From 1989 through October 2011, his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight", refashioned as "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", had been used to open broadcasts of Monday Night Football until it was pulled after Williams made controversial comments comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler. The song returned to open the show in 2017.
On August 12, 2020, Williams was selected to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Williams' early career was guided, some say outright dominated, by his mother Audrey Williams, who many claim was the driving force that led his father to musical superstardom during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Audrey, in many ways, wished for young Hank to be nothing more than a "Hank Williams, Sr. impersonator", sometimes going as far as to have clothes designed for him that were identical to his father's stage clothes and vocal stylings very similar to those of his father.
Although Williams' recordings earned him numerous country hits throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, he became disillusioned with his role as a 'Hank Williams clone' and severed ties with his mother in order to pursue his own musical direction and tastes. After recording the soundtrack to Your Cheatin' Heart, a biography of his father, Williams, Jr. hit the charts with one of his own compositions, "Standing in the Shadows". The song signalled a move to rock and roll and other influences as he stepped from the shadow of his father.
Also during this time, Williams had his first two No. 1 songs: "All For the Love of Sunshine" (1970, featured on the soundtrack to Kelly's Heroes) and "Eleven Roses" (1972).
By the mid-1970s, Williams had finally found the musical direction that would, eventually, make him a superstar. Williams' unique blend of traditional country with southern rock and blues earned him a devoted following, although some mainstream country radio stations wouldn't touch his new songs in this blatantly untraditional sound.
While recording a series of hit songs, Williams began abusing drugs, including alcohol and eventually tried to commit suicide in 1974. Moving to Alabama, Williams began playing music with Southern rock musicians Toy Caldwell, Marshall Tucker Band and Charlie Daniels, and others.
His last major success was "There's a Tear in My Beer", a duet with his father created using electronic dubbing techniques. The song itself was written by his father, presumably, sometime between 1950 and 1953 and was recorded with Hank Williams playing just his guitar. The music video for the song combined existing television footage of Hank Williams performing and the dubbing techniques transferred the image of Hank Jr. onto the screen, so it appeared as if he were actually playing with his father. The video was an overwhelming success, both critically and commercially. It was named Video Of The Year by both the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country music. Hank Williams, Jr. would go on to win a Grammy award in 1990 for Best Country Vocal Collaboration.
Despite his slumping album sales, Hank Williams Jr. continued to be a popular concert draw during the early 1990s and continued to record, with several of his recordings during this time still managing to achieve gold status, selling 500,000 copies.
He is probably best known today as the performer of the theme song for Monday Night Football, based on "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight". The opening theme became a classic, as much a part of the show as the football itself. In 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, Williams' opening themes for Monday Night Football would earn him four Emmy awards.
Williams opened for Super Bowl XL on February 5, 2006, on ABC and was in the stands as a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
On April 10, 2006, CMT honored Williams with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award, presenting it to him at the 2006 CMT Music Awards.
On November 11, 2008, Williams was honored as a BMI Icon at the 56th annual BMI Country Awards. The artists and songwriters named BMI Icons have had "a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers".
In 2011, Williams was named one of "Seven Living Legends" of his native Shreveport, Louisiana, by Danny Fox (1954–2014) of KWKH radio. Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-TV and James Burton. Two others cited, Claude King and Frank Page, both died in 2013.
In 2015, Hank Williams Jr. was Inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.
A House Of Gold
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For wealth and what it will buy
But don't they know on the Judgment Day
All the gold and silver will melt away
And know that my poor soul was saved
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
And deny my God and doom my soul
What good is gold and silver too
If your heart's not good and true
Sinner hear me when I say
Fall down on your knees and pray
For I'd rather be in a deep dark grave
And know that my poor soul was saved
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
And deny my God and doom my soul
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
And deny my God and doom my soul
In 'A House of Gold', Hank Williams Jr. brings forth a critique of wealth and materialistic pursuits. He allows us to ponder over the fact that in contemporary society, people tend to focus too much on acquisition and accumulation of wealth and further act dishonestly to gain more of it. Instead, he propounds that in the afterlife, worldly possessions like gold and silver will have no value and that it's important to lead a life that is pure, honest, and in line with God's will. He asserts that it's better to live a life of poverty but adhere to our spiritual and moral values and earn salvation.
In the second verse, Williams stresses that material wealth is futile without a good, true heart. He calls out to sinners saying that falling down to pray on our knees and seeking redemption is more worthwhile than living a life of luxury that compromises and denies our faith. He reiterates that he'd rather live and die in poverty with God in his heart than in a house of gold without faith.
Overall, the song speaks about the transience of wealth, while highlighting the importance of faith and treating our fellow humans with kindness and honesty.
Line by Line Meaning
People steal, they cheat, they lie
Individuals commit dishonest acts to acquire wealth and possessions
For wealth and what it will buy
These acts are driven by a desire for material possessions
But don't they know on the Judgment Day
There will be consequences for one's actions on the day of judgement
All the gold and silver will melt away
Material wealth will hold no value or worth on that day
I'd rather be in a deep dark grave
The artist would prefer death over a life of sin and wealth
And know that my poor soul was saved
They value their spiritual wellbeing over material wealth
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
They would rather live modestly and righteously than in a life of luxury and sin
And deny my God and doom my soul
They believe that denying their faith and giving in to sin leads to spiritual ruin
What good is gold and silver too
Material wealth offers no true value or benefit without moral righteousness
If your heart's not good and true
Moral virtue is more important than wealth
Sinner hear me when I say
The singer urges those who have strayed from righteousness to listen
Fall down on your knees and pray
They believe that turning to prayer can help one seek redemption
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
Once again, the singer values modesty and righteousness over material luxury
And deny my God and doom my soul
They reiterate that denying one's faith and giving in to sin leads to spiritual damnation
Than to live in this world in a house of gold
The final line restates the importance of spiritual wellbeing over material wealth and possessions
And deny my God and doom my soul
The consequences of abandoning faith and embracing sin are emphasized once more
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind