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.
The Nashville Scene
Hank Williams Jr. Lyrics
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Lord knows every singer wants to be the king.
But some of them couldn't take it and some good one's didn't make it.
That's the way it goes on The Nashville Scene.
Now there's a wino on the corner,
He was a well known guitar picker 'til he got burned out by the game.
Now he'll bum you for some whiskey
And tell you how it was back in '52 when he played for Hank.
And I'm watching the sun go down this evening
And soon it will wake this town that's made of dreams.
But before it does a new star will be shining
And that's the way it is on the Nashville scene.
From the outside its a castle,
From the inside its a prison its easy to live way beyond your means.
And its a long, long way to the top
And even further when you drop and I've been on both ends of the Nashville scene.
Hank Williams Jr.'s song "The Nashville Scene" (1982) is a tribute to the music community in Nashville, Tennessee. The opening lyrics suggest that everyone in the city is trying to make it big in the music industry, with record companies flourishing and singers aspiring to be the king. However, the reality is that not everyone can handle the pressure, and some talented individuals are left behind. The song then introduces a well-known guitar picker who has fallen on hard times and now begs for whiskey. He shares his memories of playing with Hank Williams in 1952, offering a glimpse into the past of the Nashville music scene.
As the sun sets on Nashville, the lyrics suggest that a new star will soon rise, highlighting the cutthroat nature of the industry. The final lyrics emphasize the duality of Nashville: it can be both a castle and a prison. While it's easy to live beyond one's means, the road to success can be long and difficult, and falling from the top can be even harder. The lyrics capture the dreams and realities of the Nashville music scene, highlighting the contrast between the glamour and the struggle of pursuing a career in music.
Line by Line Meaning
The streets are paved with tourist and the record companies flourish,
The city is full of tourists and record companies are doing well.
Lord knows every singer wants to be the king.
All singers want to be the most successful.
But some of them couldn't take it and some good one's didn't make it.
Some people couldn't handle the pressure and some talented people didn't become successful.
That's the way it goes on The Nashville Scene.
It's just the reality of the music industry in Nashville.
Now there's a wino on the corner,
There's a homeless man on the street corner.
He was a well known guitar picker 'til he got burned out by the game.
He was a musician who became tired of the industry.
Now he'll bum you for some whiskey
Now he'll ask you for alcohol.
And tell you how it was back in '52 when he played for Hank.
He'll talk about his past experiences playing music.
And I'm watching the sun go down this evening
The artist is watching the sunset.
And soon it will wake this town that's made of dreams.
The city that is built on aspirations will soon wake up.
But before it does a new star will be shining
Before the day begins, a new successful musician will have emerged.
And that's the way it is on the Nashville scene.
This is just how things happen in the Nashville music industry.
From the outside its a castle,
From the outside, the music industry in Nashville looks glamorous and successful.
From the inside its a prison its easy to live way beyond your means.
From the inside, the industry can feel confining and it's easy to overspend.
And its a long, long way to the top
It takes a lot of hard work to become a successful musician.
And even further when you drop and I've been on both ends of the Nashville scene.
It's even harder to recover after becoming successful and losing it all. The artist has had experience with both sides of the industry.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BUCK A. MOORE, HANK JR. WILLIAMS, TONY STAMPLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind