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.
I'll Follow You
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
will claim me for her own
But I won't go we've just started and I just can't leave you here all alone
So my life must go on living my heart must keep on beating true somehow
I'll let go when you leave me then I'll follow you on up to our cloud
[ piano ]
My arms will hold you all your lifetime my love for
you will always keep them strong
I'll let go when it's your time and you'll never be alone for very long
Then my life can stop its living my heart can stop its beating and rest now
Then I'll let go cause you'll be with me and I'll follow
you on up to our cloud
Yes I'll follow you on up to our cloud
The lyrics of Hank Williams Jr.'s song "I'll Follow You" depict a deep and enduring love between two individuals, even in the face of mortality. The singer acknowledges that they have been told their days are numbered, that soon they will depart from this world and be claimed by Mother Earth. However, they express a strong desire to stay and continue their journey with their loved one, refusing to leave them alone.
The singer emphasizes their commitment to keep living, to keep their heart beating true, until the moment their loved one departs as well. It is only then that they will finally let go and follow their loved one up to the heavens, symbolized by the "cloud." They express a belief that their love will continue beyond death, and that they will be reunited in that ethereal place.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of unwavering devotion and a determination to always be there for their loved one, even in the afterlife.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been told my days are numbered soon Mother Earth will claim me for her own
I have been informed that my time on Earth is limited and that eventually, I will return to the embrace of Mother Earth.
But I won't go we've just started and I just can't leave you here all alone
However, I refuse to depart because our journey together has only just begun, and I cannot bear to leave you in solitude.
So my life must go on living my heart must keep on beating true somehow
Therefore, I must continue living my life, and my heart must continue to pulsate with unwavering devotion in some way or another.
I'll let go when you leave me then I'll follow you on up to our cloud
I will release myself from this earthly realm only when you depart from it as well, so that I may accompany you to a divine abode we can share.
My arms will hold you all your lifetime my love for you will always keep them strong
Throughout your entire existence, my arms will embrace and support you, fueled by the eternal strength of my boundless love for you.
I'll let go when it's your time and you'll never be alone for very long
When the moment arrives for you to depart, I will release my grip, ensuring that you never experience prolonged solitude.
Then my life can stop its living my heart can stop its beating and rest now
At that point, I can cease my own existence, allowing my life to come to a halt and my heart to cease its rhythm, finally finding peace.
Then I'll let go cause you'll be with me and I'll follow you on up to our cloud
Once I let go of this mortal realm, because you will remain by my side, I will joyfully follow you to our shared ethereal paradise.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Carol Shepherd
Thanks a million for your great music I love your music that’s a lot like your dad, HANK WILLIAMS Sr.
victor lopez
Great performance as well as G Jones´.