 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Home > The Productions > Hank Williams: Lost Highway > Hank Williams Timeline |  |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 A Hank Williams Timeline 1923 September Hiram “Hank” Williams is born in Mount Olive West, Alabama; his father notes a “raised spot” on his spine, a symptom of spina bifuda. 1925 November The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting from Nashville. 1931 Hank’s mother buys Hank his first guitar and enrolls him in a singing school. |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1933 While living with cousins, Hank begins drinking. 1934 Hank begins busking on the streets, taking informal lessons from Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne. 1939 Having dropped out of high school, Hank plays regular gigs in local honky tonks. 1942 October Roy Acuff and Fred Rose form Acuff-Rose Publications. 1943 August Hank meets Audrey Mae Sheppard Guy, aged 21 and married to a serviceman. 1944 December Days after Audrey’s divorce, she and Hank are married by a Justice of the Peace at a gas station on the way to a gig. 1946 September Hank and Audrey visit Nashville, where they introduce themselves to Fred Rose; Fred signs Hank to a contract within months. 1947 August Hank's first MGM single, “Move It On Over,” peaks at #4. 1948 May Audrey divorces Hank, but she has it annulled in August. August Hank debuts on the “Louisiana Hayride” radio program. 1949 May “Lovesick Blues” becomes Hank’s first #1 hit; he will record ten more #1 hits in the next three years, including 2 posthumous #1s. June Hank debuts at the Grand Ole Opry, garnering seven or more curtain calls; the appearance turns Hank into one of the top-drawing artists of the era. 1951 May Hank is hospitalized for an operation on his spine and detoxification. July Hank stars in the “Hank Williams Homecoming” in Montgomery, supported by the Carter Family and Chet Atkins. August Hank headlines the Hadacol Caravan Medicine Show, co-starring Minnie Pearl, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante and Carmen Miranda. 1952 January Audrey files for divorce a second time. August Hank is fired from the Grand Ole Opry. December Hank agrees to perform on New Year’s Day; late on New Year’s Eve, on the drive to the concert, Hank passes away; he was 29. 1953 January An estimated 25,000 people attend Hank’s funeral service. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
© 2001-2020, Manhattan Ensemble Theater, Inc.
All rights reserved. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
