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.
Devil in the Bottle
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With My Boots In My Hand
Stumble In The Back Door
Being Quite As I Can
And I Know She's There In Bed
Cold And All Alone
And She's Cryin'
Because I'm Breaking Up Our Home
[Chorus:]
And She Knows
The Hell I'm Going Through
In This World
Inside My Head
There's A Devil
In The Bottle
And He Want's
To See Me Dead
I Fall Into Her Arms
And She Helps Me With My Clothes
I Guess She Stays On With Me
Because She Really Knows
That I'm Tryin' Lord
To Find My Freedom
By Escaping To The Only
Freedom I've Ever Known
Repeat [Chorus:]
Yes,There's A Devil
In The Bottle
And He Want's
To See Me Dead
And It's Killing Her
Watching Me Die This Way
In Hank Williams Jr.’s song, Devil in the Bottle, the singer confesses to his partner that he has a drinking problem. He comes home late at night, drunk and stumbling, and knows that his partner is upset because he is breaking up their home. He admits to her that he has a devil in the bottle - a metaphor for his need to drink alcohol - and that this addiction is killing both him and their relationship. Despite his struggles, his partner helps him take off his clothes and stays with him because she loves him and understands the difficulty of the situation. The song is a sad and honest confession of the effects of addiction on relationships.
The lyrics of this song make a powerful statement about the dangers of alcoholism and how it can impact those around us. The devil in the bottle represents the singer’s addiction, and the song shows the harm it can do to both him and his partner. It is clear that the singer is aware of the damage he is causing, but he can’t seem to stop himself. He is trying to find his freedom by drinking, which is the only freedom he has ever known, but it is ultimately tearing him apart.
Line by Line Meaning
I Come Home Late At Night
I return home late at night
With My Boots In My Hand
While carrying my boots with me
Stumble In The Back Door
I stumble through the rear entrance
Being Quite As I Can
Trying to be as quiet as possible
And I Know She's There In Bed
And I know she's there lying in bed
Cold And All Alone
Feeling cold and lonely
And She's Cryin'
And she's crying
Because I'm Breaking Up Our Home
Because my reckless behavior is causing the disintegration of our home
[Chorus:]
Refrain
And She Knows
And she is aware
The Hell I'm Going Through
The misery I am experiencing
In This World
In this world
Inside My Head
Within my own mind
There's A Devil
Lurking inside me
In The Bottle
Contained in that bottle
And He Want's
And he wants
To See Me Dead
To take my life
I Fall Into Her Arms
I collapse into her embrace
And She Helps Me With My Clothes
And she assists me with removing my clothes
I Guess She Stays On With Me
I suppose she continues to remain by my side
Because She Really Knows
Because she truly comprehends
That I'm Tryin' Lord
That I am endeavoring, Lord
To Find My Freedom
To acquire my liberty
By Escaping To The Only
By fleeing to the sole
Freedom I've Ever Known
Form of freedom I have ever experienced
Repeat [Chorus:]
Refrain
Yes,There's A Devil
Indeed, there is a demon
In The Bottle
Inside that bottle
And He Want's
And he wants
To See Me Dead
To take my life
And It's Killing Her
And it's destroying her
Watching Me Die This Way
Observing me perish in this manner
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BOBBY DAVID
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Brandon Smith
If you haven't walked the walk, this song is just another song!!
William Stamper
I've walked it
Harold Williams
I've walked in those boots
Edward Loose
This is one of the best songs I've ever heard. To not think of how often people slip in that bottle and maybe never really return. I've came close but change my ways before it takes everything from every person in my life.
Brian Mccallie
Yep I was in it for 30 years tryin to drown pain but all I see was bottom of the glass
terribleTed
The bottle destroyed my 20's and most of my 30's , then Jesus released me in 1989 ..thank you Jesus , thank you Jesus , thank you Jesus !
Donald Cunningham
Amen brothers theme devellstuff in that brown jug kicks my ass
Donald Cunningham
That fall picture that all you guys stuck was a very good picture you guyshow the hell they was going to be on the cover rolling Stone said it was because I had more money than a mule has hair
Dan White
Praise God!! Amen!
Jeremy dark country Steckman
Me to but it's really hard today for some reason