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 Can't Change My Tune
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I'll sing any melody you want me to
I'll sing all the country and all of the blues
But babe, I can't change my tune for you
So don't ask me to
But babe, I can pull some strings for you
I'll pull them until each one is in tune
But babe, I can't change my tune for you
But I'll pull strings for you
Maybe I'll write a song about you
Even though I am just passing through
I'll sing you all the old songs and all of the new
'Cause babe, I can't change my tune for you
So don't ask me to
The lyrics of "I Can't Change My Tune" by Hank Williams Jr. speak of a man's reluctance to change who he is for anyone else, but he promises to try his best to accommodate his loved one's preferences. Despite his willingness to adapt and make changes in his life, he cannot alter his core being or go against his own nature. The singer of the song is aware of his limitations and feels that he is being reasonable by explaining his inability to change his tune. He assures his partner that he is not dismissive of her wishes and desires, but cannot compromise his own identity to please her.
The lyrics convey a message that people cannot change who they are fundamentally for anyone else, but they can make sincere attempts to compromise and adjust to others’ needs. The song's theme is relatable to many people who have experienced a relationship where their partner wishes for them to change or compromise on their values to be with them. The song's strength lies in the simplicity of the lyrics and melody, which makes the message of the song more universal and accessible.
Line by Line Meaning
Babe, I can't change my tune for you
I cannot change who I am or my beliefs for you, no matter how much I care about you.
But I'll sing any melody you want me to
I am willing to do anything to make you happy, including singing songs that you like.
I'll sing all the country and all of the blues
I am versatile and can sing any genre of music, including country and blues.
So don't ask me to
Please do not ask me to change who I am, as I cannot do it.
But babe, I can pull some strings for you
While I cannot change myself, I will try to help you in any way I can to make things better.
I'll pull them until each one is in tune
I will do everything in my power to make things work out for you, just like tuning a guitar until it is perfect.
I'll try to make things go like you want to
I want to see you happy and will go out of my way to help make that happen.
Maybe I'll write a song about you
Even though I cannot change who I am, I can still express my feelings about you through music.
Even though I am just passing through
I know that I may not be a permanent part of your life, but I still want to make an impact while I am here.
I'll sing you all the old songs and all of the new
I am well-versed in music from different eras and can sing songs you may have known from the past, as well as new ones.
Contributed by Alice S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.