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.
Love M.D
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Since I fell for you
Now I've come down
With the heartbreak blues
It's gonna take a doctor
Witha special degree
I need a love doctor
I need a love M.D.
I've been sick ya'll
I've been sick ya'll
Bedridden
Bedridden
I need a prescription
Just right for me
A lot of bed rest
And some company
A whole lot of hugs
A little sympathy
I need a love doctor
I need a love M.D.
I've been sick ya'll
A love M.D.
The song Love M.D by Hank Williams Jr. discusses the aftermath of falling in love and getting hurt. The lyrics suggest that the singer has fallen hard for someone and has been knocked off their feet. They are now struggling with heartbreak blues, and the only solution is a love doctor or a love medical doctor so to speak.
The singer is bedridden, sick with love, and needs a prescription to heal from the pain. The prescription is a combination of bed rest and company, including hugs and sympathy. The only person that can cure their love sickness is a love doctor, someone with a special degree in the field of love. The repetition of "I've been sick ya'll" emphasizes the severity of the love sickness that the singer is experiencing.
Overall, Love M.D. is a playful and lighthearted take on dealing with heartbreak. Hank Williams Jr. uses his distinctive voice and storytelling ability to create vivid imagery of a love-sick patient in need of a cure.
Line by Line Meaning
Knocked out of my breath
I was taken by surprise when I fell in love with you.
Since I fell for you
Ever since I started loving you, I have never been the same.
Now I've come down
My spirit is down and broken.
With the heartbreak blues
I have been hurt, feeling sad and depressed due to the love that didn't work out.
It's gonna take a doctor
I am very sick, and I need professional help.
Witha special degree
I am looking for someone who is highly skilled in healing heartbreaks.
I need a love doctor
I am in dire need of some love specialist who can help me overcome this heartbreak.
I've been sick ya'll
I am deeply hurt and in need of medical attention from a love M.D.
Bedridden
My heart is broken, and I can't just move on quickly.
I need a prescription
I need specialized treatment, advice, or medication that will help me recover from heartbreak.
Just right for me
I need personalized treatment specifically tailored towards my condition.
A lot of bed rest
I need to take some time off to heal my mind, body, and soul.
And some company
I need someone to comfort me and offer emotional support throughout the healing process.
A whole lot of hugs
I need a lot of love and affection to help me recover from the trauma.
A little sympathy
I need someone to empathize with me and understand my situation.
A love M.D.
I need a professional love doctor to help me move forward from the heartbreak and find true love again.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LEANN WHITE, TONY JOE WHITE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind