Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Wil… Read Full Bio ↴Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or alternatively as Hank Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and country. He is the son of country music singer Hank Williams; the half-brother of Jett Williams; and the father of Hank Williams III, Holly Williams, Hilary Williams, Sam Williams, and the late Katherine Williams-Dunning.

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.

If You Wanna Get to Heaven
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I never read it in a book
I never saw it on a show
But i heard it in the alley on the weird radio.

If you want a drink of water
You got to get it from the well.
If you wanna get to heaven
You got to raise a little hell.

I never felt it in my feet
Or felt it in my soul
But i heard it in the alley
Now its in my rock and roll.

If you wanna know a secret
You got to promise not to tell.
If you wanna get to heaven
You got to raise a little hell.

I never thought it'd be so easy
I never thought it'd be so fun.
But I heard it in the alley
Now I got it on the run.

If you wanna see an angel
You got to find it where it fell.
If you wanna get the heaven
You got to raise a little hell.

If you wanna get to heaven
If you wanna get to heaven

If you wanna get to heaven
If you wanna get to heaven

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Hank Williams Jr.'s song If You Wanna Get to Heaven are quite simple but carry a powerful message. The song talks about getting to heaven and the idea that to do so, a bit of rebellion or going against the norm is required. The first verse talks about how the person singing the song never read or saw anything about this concept, but instead heard it in an alley on a "weird radio". This could symbolize the notion that the idea of getting to heaven in a non-traditional way is not something that is often talked about but is still out there.

The second verse goes on to discuss the idea that if you want something, you have to work for it. In this case, if you want a drink of water, you have to get it from the well. This could symbolize the idea that if you want to get to heaven, you have to be willing to put in the work and go against traditional norms. The chorus repeats the message that to get to heaven, you have to "raise a little hell", or push against the norm.

The third verse talks about how the idea of raising a little hell was not felt physically but was heard in the alley and became a part of the person's rock and roll. This could symbolize the idea that going against traditional norms is not about physical action but rather a mindset and way of life. The final verse discusses the idea that finding an angel or getting to heaven is not easy and requires effort and persistence.

Overall, the song carries a message of rebellion against traditional norms and the idea that to get to heaven or achieve something great, one must push against the norm and not be afraid of a little bit of chaos.

Line by Line Meaning

I never read it in a book
I didn't learn it from a book

I never saw it on a show
I haven't seen it on TV

But i heard it in the alley on the weird radio.
I heard it in the streets from the cool radio

If you want a drink of water
If you want something you need

You got to get it from the well.
You have to work hard to get it

If you wanna get to heaven
If you want to go to heaven

You got to raise a little hell.
You have to work hard and make something happen

I never felt it in my feet
I didn't feel it physically

Or felt it in my soul
I didn't feel it spiritually

But i heard it in the alley
But I heard it on the streets

Now its in my rock and roll.
Now it's part of my passion