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.
Air That I Breathe
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound
Nothing to eat, no books to read
Making love with you
Has left me peaceful warm and tired
What more could I ask
There's nothing left to be desired
Sleep, silent angel go to sleep
Sometimes all I need
Is the air that I breathe
And to love you
Sometimes all I need
Is the air that I breathe
And to love you
Sometimes all I need
Is the air that I breathe
And to love you
In Hank Williams Jr.'s song "Air That I Breathe", the singer talks about their innermost desires and needs: nothing materialistic, but just the simple pleasure of being with their loved one. The singer's mention of having no need for cigarettes, sleep, or any sort of physical stimulus, suggests that their true happiness comes from a deeper source within. This source, the singer reveals, is the love they share with their partner. The singer acknowledges that they don't need anything else in their life as long as they have their love by their side. They revel in the feeling of peace that comes with their love, and they embrace the vulnerability that comes with their surrender to it.
The chorus subtly implies that, to the singer, love is just as essential as air. It is the one thing they can’t live without. All they need is the air that they breathe and the love of their partner. This sentiment emphasizes the power that love holds over us and our lives. The song encourages us to focus on what is truly important - the people we care about and the love that we share with them.
Overall, "Air That I Breathe" is a beautiful reminder to cherish the people who make our lives meaningful and to focus on the simple pleasures in life. It teaches us that material possessions cannot replace the fulfillment that love brings and that true happiness can only be found in the company of those we love.
Line by Line Meaning
If I could make a wish I think I'd pass
I am content with my life, and there's nothing more that I desire.
Can't think of anything I need
I do not feel empty and I am not in want of anything else.
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound
I do not require any physical pleasures or distractions to feel happy.
Nothing to eat, no books to read
I do not need food or entertainment to find fulfillment in life.
Making love with you
Intimacy with you brings me pure bliss and contentment.
Has left me peaceful warm and tired
After being intimate with you, I feel relaxed, content, and in a state of joyous exhaustion.
What more could I ask
I truly have everything that I could ever ask for in life.
There's nothing left to be desired
There is no aspect of life that I still long for or desire.
Peace came upon me and it leaves me weak
The deep sense of tranquility and happiness that I experience with you is so overwhelming that it can leave me feeling weak in the aftermath.
Sleep, silent angel go to sleep
I am so content with my life that I can quickly and easily fall asleep.
Sometimes all I need
There may be moments when I am in doubt, but even during these moments, I find solace in the simplest things in life.
Is the air that I breathe
I am sustained and fulfilled by the simplest things in life, such as the air that I breathe.
And to love you
My love for you is the foundation of my happiness and contentment in life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Albert Hammond, Mike Hazlewood
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind