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.
After All They All Used To Belong To Me
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No I can't visit her or my son I'm supposed to stay away
But it won't hurt to bring back old memories
Cause after all they used to all belong to me
Now there's our car the one that I'm still payin' for
And in the front yard Lord I see my little boy
And there's his mother I hope she's doing fine
Oh Lord I'd give anything if they were all still mine
I should have known I'd never win when I played that cheating game
This other man holds my life and my son calls him daddy tonight
But how can I complain cause after all they used to all belong to me
How can I complain cause after all they used to all belong to me
Hank Williams Jr.'s song After All They All Used To Belong To Me is a poignant reflection on the aftermath of infidelity and lost love. The singer of the song is unable to visit his ex-partner and child due to the fallout of his infidelity. He reflects on what used to be his, including his car and his child, and hope that his ex-partner is doing well. The singer acknowledges that he is to blame for the loss of his family and the possibility that his son calls another man daddy. Despite his sorrow and longing, he knows he cannot change the past and must accept the consequences of his actions.
The lyrics in this song are a testament to the emotional toll that infidelity and lost love have on individuals and families. The singer's realization that he can no longer take his loved ones for granted speaks to the consequences of choices made in the heat of the moment. The song is a reminder that actions have consequences, and those consequences can be heart-rending.
Line by Line Meaning
I guess I'll get a cab and go by in my house today
I will take a cab and visit my old house today.
No I can't visit her or my son I'm supposed to stay away
I am not allowed to visit my ex-wife or son.
But it won't hurt to bring back old memories
Remembering old memories will not cause harm.
Cause after all they used to all belong to me
Everything in my old home once belonged to me before my family fell apart.
Now there's our car the one that I'm still payin' for
I still make payments on the car that belonged to our family.
And in the front yard Lord I see my little boy
I see my son playing in the front yard.
And there's his mother I hope she's doing fine
I hope my ex-wife is doing well.
Oh Lord I'd give anything if they were all still mine
I wish I could have my family back.
But they're not and I'm the one to blame
I accept responsibility for the breakup of my family.
I should have known I'd never win when I played that cheating game
I made a mistake by cheating on my wife.
This other man holds my life and my son calls him daddy tonight
My ex-wife is now with another man who my son considers to be his father.
But how can I complain cause after all they used to all belong to me
I cannot complain about losing my family because they once belonged to me.
How can I complain cause after all they used to all belong to me
Again, I accept that my family was once mine to cherish.
Contributed by Riley R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Linda Lee
Hank Jr. was so Blessed with his amazing voice the minute he was born. He can play ever instrument as a professional that he is. Beautiful song God Bless you & your family. 6-24-20
margie beach
He can sure sing thanks for posting!
Dummy Gaynuts
hank jr has a hell of a voice.
red vegiesoup
and great songs...
LT1HILLINGHOE
Woooooo!!!!! This is a darned good song. Sad, but sounds sooo good.
JACK REEVES
This is really good; on songs like this, he's as good as it gets!!!
Tommy Jack
Solid country gold.... The first song I heard him sing when I was kid
Joey Zeigler
Mine was either I'll think of something or whiskey bent and hell bound I'm 18 now but luv old country this so call country today sounds like crap it's pop not country
Paul DaSilva
This was mine too!!
Paula Copher
God, that gives me goose bumps! Beautiful!!!