Hank Williams Jr.

The result of harnessing all that power and energy is quite evident on career album number 68, "Stormy," where he speaks his mind, sings loud and is not afraid to touch any topic from Joe Montana to rural strip clubs. That's why Hank Jr. will always be known as a great entertainer and songwriter (Alan Jackson's latest single is the Hank Jr. penned "The Blues Man"), and a genuine American icon.

Some of the NFL's best know it. The one year since 1989 that Hank Jr. didn't do every ABC Monday Night Football open, fans by the thousands chastised ABC Sports and Bocephus got the gig back, exclusively. Van Halen knows it. They wore "Bocephus Rules" T-Shirts on stage and in one of their videos. Kid Rock knows it. Just when one might think he's mellowed, Hank will hit you right in the face with a kick-ass new song and video, "Naked Women and Beer," with new friend and longtime Hank Jr. fan Kid Rock. In each of his shows the Kid performs "A Country Boy Can Survive" and dedicates it to his inspiration, Hank Jr.

Such greatness often comes with great heartache. The Hank Williams Jr. story is no exception. His father, a man he has described as "somewhere between God and John Wayne." was county music legend Hank Williams. "Bocephus" (the nickname his father gave him) was just three years old when Hank Sr. died. Following in his father's footsteps was both a blessing and a curse. Hank Jr. struggled all his young life to both honor his father and stake his own claim as a musician.

In 1970, spurred by southern rockers like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, Hank cut a record from his heart, "Hank Jr. and Friends." Critics and fans praised the effort. Bocephus had found his sound.

It was during this period of hope that tragedy struck again. While on a mountain climbing vacation in Montana, Hank tumbled 500 feet down Ajax Mountain crushing his skull and face. Miraculously, he survived. Even before the completion of several reconstructive surgeries, Bocephus started touring. He built a new audience of "rowdy friends" and began his climb to icon status.

Throughout the 80's Hank Jr. dominated the country music industry. He was named Entertainer of the Year three times by the Academy of Country Music, and twice by the Country Music Association. He released smash singles that included classics like "A Country Boy Can Survive," "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight," and "Born to Boogie." He earned 24 gold and 10 platinum albums, one double platinum, and "Hank Williams Jr.'s Greatest Hits" is certified quadruple platinum. In 1990 He won a Grammy for "There's a Tear in My Beer" which was an electronically enabled duet with his father Hank Williams Sr.

But it was the anthem, "Are You Ready For Some Football?" that shot Bocephus to international stardom. In 1989 he was commissioned by ABC Sports to write and perform the opening segment for Monday Night Football. His work earned him the first Emmy Award (a total of 4) won by a country artist. Broadcast all over the globe, Hank Jr. became a symbol of America, which endures today.

Need proof? It's in the people. Go to a Hank Jr. show. It's not a concert, it's an event. It's a party, the ultimate celebration of good time, good ole boy rowdiness on parade. That's why more than 20,000 people belong to his fan club.

Or visit his website at www.hankjr.com. You'll find a community of free spirits. To them, and all his loyal fans, Bocephus is more than an entertainer, he's a philosophy, a way of life. Like Hank says, "Hey, we don't all live in New York or L.A."

You cannot deny his impact on popular music and American culture. He's given regular Americans a soundtrack to live by. He is a musician to admire for his songwriting, his talent, and for his legendary performances. He is a man to admire for his sheer guts and unbridled honesty. Hank Williams Jr. is about as real as it gets.

From: http://www.merlekilgore.com/hankjr.htm

HANK WILLIAMS, JR.

The offspring of famous musicians often have a hard time creating a career for themselves, yet Hank Williams, Jr. is one of the few to develop a career that is not only successful, but markedly different from his legendary father. Originally, Hank Jr. simply copied and played his father's music, but as he grew older, he began to carve out his own niche and it was one that owed as much to country-rock as it did to honky tonk. In the late '70s, he retooled his image to appeal both to outlaw country fans and rowdy southern rockers, and his makeover worked, resulting in a string of Top 10 singles -- including the number one hits "Texas Women," "Dixie on My Mind," "All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)," "Honky Tonkin'" and "Born to Boogie" -- that ran into the late '80s. Hank Jr. never was above capitalizing on his father's name, yet his tributes and name-dropping often seemed affectionate, not crass. Also, Bocephus -- as his father nicknamed him when he was a child -- was a passionate cheerleader for patriotic American values; he even wrote a pro-Gulf War song during 1991. All of these actions helped make him an American superstar during the '80s, becoming one of the most recognizable popular culture figures of the era. As new country took over the airwaves in the '90s, Williams slowly disappeared from the charts and his concerts stopped selling as well as they did ten years earlier, yet he retained a devoted core audience throughout the decade.
The son of Hank and Audrey Williams, Hank Williams, Jr. was born in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1949. Less than four years later, his father died, leaving behind a huge legacy. When Hank Jr. was eight years old, Audrey decided to push her son into the spotlight, positioning him as the rightful heir to his father's legacy. Dressed in a white Nudie suit, he would sing Hank Sr.'s biggest hits on package tours, and by the time he was 11, he had made his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. After a few years of touring, Hank Jr.'s voice broke in 1963. As soon as his voice changed, Audrey had her son sign a contract with MGM Records. Hank Jr. recorded his father's "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" as his debut single, and the record was a hit upon its early 1964 release, climbing to number five. Later that year, he sang all the material for the Hank Williams, Sr. biopic, Your Cheatin' Heart, and starred in the film A Time to Sing. Though he immediately had a hit, he wasn't able to follow it up with another Top 10 hit until 1966, when his self-penned "Standing in the Shadows" reached number five. By that time, he had begun to grow tired of his reputation as a Hank Williams imitator and was trying to create his own style, as "Standing in the Shadows" proved. Following that single, he began to explore rock & roll somewhat, occasionally performing under the name Rockin' Randall.
Despite his half-hearted rock & roll attempts, Williams continued to concentrate on country music, turning out a string of hit singles, including the number one "All for the Love of Sunshine" and a number of inspirational cuts released under the name "Luke the Drifter, Jr," a reference to his father's alter-ego. Though his career was doing well, Hank Jr. began falling into drug and alcohol abuse after he turned 18 years old. His personal life became progressively more complicated, culminating in a suicide attempt in 1974. Following the attempt, Williams moved to Alabama where he not only got his life together, but he changed his musical direction as well. Hooking up with southern-rockers like Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker and Toy Caldwell, he recorded Hank Williams Jr. and Friends, which fused hardcore country with rock & roll. Though he wasn't scoring as many hits as he had in the early '70s, his music was becoming more original and focused.
Just as his career was being revived, tragedy beset Williams. While he was climbing a mountain in Montana in 1975, he fell 442 feet down the side of the mountain. His injuries were serious -- his skull was split and his face was crushed -- but he survived. Following extensive reconstructive cosmetic surgery, he had to relearn how to speak and sing. Williams' recovery period lasted a full two years. When he re-emerged in 1977, he aligned himself the outlaw country movement, as Waylon Jennings produced Hank Jr.'s comeback effort, The New South. It took several years before Williams began to have hits again -- his biggest hit in the late '70s was a cover of Bobby Fuller's "I Fought the Law," which reached number 15 -- but in the final six months of 1979, he had two Top 10 singles, "Family Tradition" and "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound," which began a virtually uninterrupted streak of 29 Top 10 hits that ran into 1988.
Throughout the '80s, Hank Williams, Jr. was one of the most popular, and controversial, figures in country music. Following his image makeover, he appealed primarily to young, and rowdy crowds with his hell-raising anthems and jingoistic ballads. Though he had established his own distinctive style, he continued to name-check and pay tribute to his father, and these salutes became as much a part of his act as his redneck rockers. Both the wild music and the party-ready atmosphere of his concerts made Hank Jr. an immensely popular musician and helped him crossover into the rock & roll audience. Williams' career really began to take off in 1981, when he had three number one hits -- "Texas Women," "Dixie on My Mind" and "All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down" -- and Rowdy began a streak of 15 gold or platinum albums that ran until 1990. During that time, he won several awards, including back-to-back Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year in 1987 and 1988.
By the end of the decade, Hank Jr.'s persona was becoming a little tired, especially in light of the new breed of clean-cut new country singers that had taken over Nashville. Williams could still have a hit -- such as "There's a Tear in My Beer," which was an electronic duet between him and his father -- but by the end of 1990, he was no longer hitting the Top 10 and by the middle of the decade he had trouble reaching the Top 40. Despite his declining record sales, Hank Jr. remained a popular concert draw into the latter half of the '90s. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
From: http://www.alamhof.org/willhjr.htm