Hank Williams in his coffin. ‘I think I see God comin’ down the road.’. The daughter of Hank Williams Jr.---27-year-old Katherine Williams-Dunning---died in a car accident Saturday (6-13) night on Highway 79 near West Antioch Road northeast of Paris, Tennessee. Several people fainted in the crush of people which fire chief R. L. Lampley estimated at nearly 20,000. There’s so much conjecture that both “I Saw the Light” and the 1964 biopic “Your Cheatin’ Heart” chose to avoid depicting the final journey altogether. About 3,000 friends of the family shuffled through his mother’s living room on Montgomery’s North McDonough Street where Williams’ body was lain in state that Saturday night. She cried out, “He’s gone ... gone” over and over as firefighters helped her out. She died on November 4, 1975 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. She was married to Hank Williams and Erskine Guy. "Hank's funeral drew the largest crowd ever to attend any funeral in Montgomery. In 1953, months after Hank Sr.'s death, Williams paid his second wife Billie Jean Jones $30,000 to relinquish the title of "Hank Williams' Widow". At the time, Carr’s nervous account of the final few hours of the journey were enough to raise questions of foul play, especially when some witnesses — including a police officer — oddly claimed to have seen a soldier also riding in the car. The art included in this digital article did not run with the original story. Beside Hank’s coffin were two large wreaths shaped like guitars, another set of flowers was shaped like a Bible, two lamps were shining purple lights, and in his hands there was a small Bible. “If this world should last a thousand years,” Lyons said, “Hank shall remain dear to millions of hearts.”. Heavy Turbulence. “It is unimportant whether you liked his songs, whether in your opinion he created ugliness or beauty. Her brother is singer Sam Williams who opened for Cam on her UK tour last year. “He was dead on arrival at an Oak Hill hospital,” the front page of The Alabama Journal read. Hank felt there was something bad around the corner.”. On the early morning hours on New Year's Day 1953, while traveling through West Virginia on the way to a show in Canton, Ohio, Hank Williams died in his sleep in the back seat of his Cadillac limousine at the age of 29. Wynette died in the same room where Williams' widow Audrey Williams died in 1975 of alcoholism. Hank’s first and second wives watched from the front pew. Katherine is one of two children born to Hank Jr. and his third wife, Mary Jane Thomas. The strange circumstances surrounding Hank Williams’ death quickly became apparent in the News Sentinel’s coverage back in 1953. Oak Hill, West Virginia. He was driving Hank Williams, 29, who died that night. But one big thing is left out of the movie: the singer’s mysterious death. This was the scene in Montgomery's Municipal Auditorium Jan. 4, 1953 as thousands filed past the open casket of singer-composer Hank Williams who died Jan. 1, 1953 at the age of 29. Celebrity Deaths in 2020 Read article Officials listed his cause of death as heart failure but noted that body contusions meant he had recently been in a fight. Just before dawn on New Year's Day, 1953, a baby blue Cadillac pulled into the Pure Oil gas station on the south end of Oak Hill. has been telling people he was the doorman at the Andrew Johnson, and he says Hank was conscious and joking when he left.” Carr had insisted that Williams couldn’t have been dead in Knoxville, because they had spoken briefly in the car after leaving town. This was the scene in Montgomery's Municipal Auditorium Jan. 4, 1953 as thousands filed past the open casket of singer-composer Hank Williams who died Jan. 1, 1953 at the age of 29. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Stars of the Grand Ole Opry were expected along with thousands of fans to bid farewell to Williams. After a lengthy court battle in the 1980s, she was ruled to be one of her father's legal heirs and due to half of the family fortune. “He was one of the finest young men that we ever knew,” Acuff said. It was something he apparently saw coming. Katherine Williams-Dunning, the daughter of country music singer Hank Williams Jr. and his third wife, Mary Jane, died in a car accident in Tennessee on Saturday evening. Within 48 hours of Williams’ prediction, he had met his maker, but the circumstances surrounding how he died have given rise to one of music history’s greatest debates. There is a framework of events that is largely agreed upon, starting with Williams being chauffeured to a planned New Year’s Eve show in Charleston, W.Va. Some local citizens, however, didn't want Oak Hill to be remembered as the death site. But clearly Williams' tragic death got in the way of that plan. On June 11, 1949, Williams made his live Grand Ole Opry debut. It was all in Hank’s heart. “When he played on his guitar, he played on the heart-strings of millions,” pastor Henry Lyons of Highland Avenue Baptist Church told the crowd gathered on Perry Street. Photo Credit The Strange Death of Country Music Star Hank Williams. Here are more vintage images and stories of Alabama’s past. Katherine Williams-Dunning, the 27-year-old daughter of Hank Williams Jr, has tragically died in a one-car crash in Henry County, Tennessee. The day after Williams died, The Montgomery Advertiser recalled Williams as a former peanut vendor who learned to play guitar at age 6. 229,744, This story has been shared 174,522 times. Katherine Williams-Dunning, the daughter of country music legend Hank Williams Jr., died in a car crash Saturday night in Tennessee, authorities told CBS News. Katherine Williams-Dunning, the daughter of country singer Hank Williams Jr., died in a car accident in Tennessee on Saturday, according to her sister. But one of the most interesting twists in the hotel’s history is tied to the life of legendary, hard-partying, country artist and Alabama son, Hank Williams. 149,274, © 2021 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved At cafes across the South, the paper added, his songs blared over radios as news of his death spread. Williams-Dunning was driving a 2007 Chevy Tahoe towing a boat when it crossed the dividing median of … Your Ad Choices This being the days of Jim Crow, the 200 Black mourners were in a segregated balcony. The daughter of country music star Hank Williams Jr. has died in a car crash. © 2021 Advance Local Media LLC. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked number one (three posthumously). When the singer’s death was announced to the waiting crowd at the Palace Theatre in Canton, they sang Williams’ “I Saw the Light” in unison. This is Hank Williams, Audrey Sheppard Williams and the Drifting Cowboys band in 1951. The daughter of country music legend, Hank Williams Jr., has passed away. He is the son of Hank Williams, one of country music’s most iconic figures, who died in 1953 at age 29 after writing a long string of hit songs. Below are excerpts of the Jan. 2, 1953, The Tennessean article on the death of country legend Hank Williams. As the singer was exiting the jail, the famous picture of a shirtless, gaunt, and unshaved Hank Williams was snapped. “I think he had a profound sadness in him,” says Marc Abraham, writer and director of the new biopic. But inclement weather meant they couldn’t get to Charleston, so the concert was canceled and they instead made a pit stop at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville, Tenn. Williams had already been drinking when he was given a shot of B12 and morphine by the hotel doctor. They began to fill the auditorium hours before the afternoon funeral. Hank Williams, Dead Here. But as Jack Neely, executive director of the Knoxville History Project, explains, local folklore tells a different story. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. This story has been shared 149,274 times. With the 50th anniversary of Williams' death approaching, plans call for another tribute concert and a retracing of Hank's final journey. He died in the back seat of his Cadillac while being driven to a gig on New Year's Day 1953. It was also something that was suggested by the initial police report. Most accounts have Williams looking and sounding groggy, and hotel porters allegedly had to carry him to the car. E! Meet the 81-year-old living in a 22,000-square-foot NYC mansion rent-free, This 19-year-old is 2020's 'Most Beautiful' woman in the world, Accused ‘Soho Karen’ attacker in Keyon Harrold Jr. case is identified, Ex-Bears Super Bowl champ arrested on murder charge, Biden to block Trump's 'midnight regulations', - Hank Williams to wife Billie Jean shortly before he died, Elizabeth Olsen and Tom Hiddleston, who plays Hank Williams, in “I Saw the Light.”. Daughter of country music legend Hank Williams Jr. dies in car crash, authorities say. Having only recently recorded what would become some of his best-loved songs -- including ‘Kawliga’ and ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ -- Williams performed his final concert in Austin, Texas on Dec. 19, 1952. 174,522, This story has been shared 149,274 times. Hank Williams first auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry in 1946, but he did not make the cut. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. new years day 1953 his current hit song was i’ll never get out of this world alive at the age of 29 hank williams sr. died in the back seat of his cadillac somewhere between knoxville, tenn. and oak hill, west virginia while enroute to a show in canton, ohio. From The Birmingham News. People from 35 states were said to have made the trip to say farewell to Hank. As the rest of the world would soon learn, country music singer and composer Hank Williams had quietly rolled into town early that day in the backseat of his brand-new, baby-blue Cadillac convertible. The new biopic “I Saw the Light,” in theaters Friday, traces country legend Hank Williams’ struggles with alcohol, infidelity — and the weight of being one of the biggest music stars in the United States, following hits such as his cover of “Lovesick Blues” (1949) and his own “Why Don’t You Love Me” (1950). His … Long plagued by alcoholism, Williams fell ill at the Andrew Johnson Hotel in Knoxville on the last night of 1952. “There was desire, burden, fear, ambition, reverse after reverse, bitter disappointment, joy, success, sympathy, love for people. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, Your California Privacy Rights On the evening of Dec. 30, 1952, the restless, rail-thin 29-year-old tossed and turned in bed at his home in Montgomery, Ala. She never remarried. Country singer, Sam Williams is breaking his silence with a number of social media posts just days after his sister, Katherine Williams-Dunning's passing. Before it was over, some 20,000 people had filled the auditorium and the street outside for what was described as the largest funeral in Montgomery’s history. By Danielle Garrand June 14, 2020 / 6:38 PM / CBS News But suspicions about this final journey arose immediately. Heart failure and hard living did him in. This was the scene in Montgomery's Municipal Auditorium Jan. 4, 1953 as thousands filed past the open casket of singer-composer Hank Williams who died Jan. 1, 1953 at the age of 29. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/how-did-hank-williams-really-die Instead, Williams died 67 years ago, on Jan. 1, 1953. Privacy Notice While her son was not on the stage, his song ‘I Saw The Light’ opened the show. “Tom [Hiddleston, the actor portraying Williams] puts across that impending sense of doom. He was 29. Born six days after Hank Williams died, Jett was adopted by Hank's mother Lillie Stone. When new wife Billie Jean asked what was the matter, she claimed his reply was, “I think I see God comin’ down the road.”. Lillie Stone, Audrey Williams, and Hank Williams, Jr., seated on a bed while looking through letters and cards received after the death of Hank Williams, Sr. Carr drove through the night as Williams declined his offer to stop for food. The death of Katherine Williams-Dunning, the 27-year-old daughter of singer-songwriter Hank Williams Jr., has been felt across the across the country community and beyond. Do Not Sell My Personal Information. A line of thousands filled two-and-a-half city blocks as the funeral procession carried Hank to Oakwood Cemetery. Hank Williams, byname of Hiram Williams, also called the Hillbilly Shakespeare, (born September 17, 1923, Georgiana, Alabama, U.S.—died January 1, 1953, Oak Hill, West Virginia), American singer, songwriter, and guitarist who in the 1950s arguably became country music ’s first superstar. Hiriam King Williams (Hank, Sr.) died on New Years Day, 1953, from a combination of alcoholism and prescription pain killers from a back injury. She was 27 years old. Williams-Dunning died … His funeral was held the next day, Sunday Jan. 4, 1953, at Montgomery’s City Auditorium. Williams … The house formerly belonged to country music legend Hank Williams. They are in a bedroom in the home of Lillie (Hank Williams's mother) on North McDonough Street in Montgomery, Alabama. This story has been shared 229,744 times. He died of a heart attack at the age of 29 in 1953 in the backseat of his Cadillac. Montgomery, Alabama - Family at Hank Williams memorial unveiling. (Carr died in 2013 and, for much of his life, kept silent on his journey with Williams.). Roy Acuff leads a host of country stars singing at the funeral of Hank Williams. A doctor injected Williams with B12 and morphine and porters carried the legendary singer-songwriter to the car. Wikimedia Commons (An audio recording of the funeral begins at the 7:30 mark of the video below.). As the singer was exiting the jail, the famous picture of a shirtless, gaunt, and unshaved Hank Williams was snapped. The art included in this digital article did not run with the original story. They did one on Hank Sr and the story of his last day. This story has been shared 229,744 times. Dom Calicchio is … “You wrote only what you felt boil up inside you. He was born in Georgiana, Al., in 1923 as Hiram King Williams, and he died of a heart attack in 1953. But when Stone died herself just two years later, Jett was put into foster care. The newlyweds spent Christmas 1952 with Williams’s mother in Montgomery. Hank Williams' death car is located in downtown Montgomery on the east side of Commerce St. just north of Bibb St. Katherine Williams-Dunning, the daughter of country singer Hank Williams Jr., died in a car accident on June 13, 2020, as first reported by WKRN.She was 27. She was married to Hank Williams and Erskine Guy. Both women had been using the description professionally. Thanks for contacting us. Hank Williams, the 29-year-old King of Country Music, was to have flown to Charleston, West Virginia for a New Year’s Eve concert but an ice storm near Nashville kept him away. Your California Privacy Rights We've received your submission. A single-vehicle crash in Tennessee on Saturday night resulted in the death of the 27-year-old daughter of country music singer Hank Williams Jr., according to reports. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS. As people across his native Alabama picked up their morning newspapers that first morning of 1953, they were greeted with the tragic news Williams had died. Williams and her son, Hank Jr., became estranged after he turned 18. It was swelling in him like a great body of water behind a massive dam,” Lyons said. In 1953, Williams died of a heart attack at age 29 after years of alcohol and prescription drug abuse, and his influence lived on in more ways than just as an artist. This story has been shared 174,522 times. - Hank Williams to wife Billie Jean shortly before he died But suspicions about this final journey arose immediately. Audrey Williams was born on February 28, 1923 in Banks, Alabama, USA as Audrey Sheppard. The Journal that day reported WSFA received hundreds of calls and telegrams requesting the station play his songs. According to reports, Hank’s friend Darwin Dobbs, who had hosted Hank at his Lake Martin fishing lodge, posted Hank’s $25 bond, and paid the $10 fine for Hank to be released. The death of Katherine Williams-Dunning, the 27-year-old daughter of singer-songwriter Hank Williams Jr., has been felt across the across the country community and beyond. But clearly Williams' tragic death got in the way of that plan. She was 27. “I told Carr that Williams looked dead but I did not press the point when Carr explained that Williams had been given two sedatives,” Kitts was quoted as saying. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (each updated 1/1/20). Hank Williams had been on thin ice with the organisers of Nashville’s already-fabled concert and broadcast institution, The Grand Ole Opry, when he pushed his luck too far on August 9, 1952. Front pew 28, 1952 //www.foxnews.com/entertainment/how-did-hank-williams-really-die in 1975 of alcoholism they felt superfluous, ” when did hank williams die editorial in the seat. Only what you felt boil up inside you Williams ( Hank III ) is also a recording artist with heart-felt! Not sent - check your email addresses Marc Abraham, writer and director of the Ole! 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