Born in Louisiana 77 Years Ago Today, the Country Rocker Who Stepped Out of His Legendary Father’s Shadow To Blaze His Own Path

On this day (May 26) in 1949, Randall Hank Williams was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is better known as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus. In the early days of his career, he followed closely in the footsteps of his father, Hank Williams. Then, after a fall from a mountain nearly took his life, he reemerged with new sound, blending country, Southern rock, and blues.

Videos by American Songwriter

Williams was seemingly destined to be a country star. Under the direction of his mother, Audrey Williams, he performed his first concert when he was just eight years old, with the Audrey Williams Musical Caravan of Stars alongside Carl Perkins and the Big Bopper. When most kids were going into sixth grade, he was appearing on the Grand Ole Opry. Then, at 14 years old, he released his debut album and appeared on some of the biggest television shows of the time, including the Ed Sullivan Show.

According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Williams had already released 21 albums and notched 11 hits on the country charts by the time he was 20 years old. He was a rising country star, but he wasn’t satisfied. As he grew up, he found that he wanted to step out of his dad’s shadow and make the music he wanted to make. “If I could make an album that showed the connection between country and the new rock, then I could look at myself in the mirror in the morning,” he wrote in his autobiography. “I’d be making my music, not Daddy’s or Mother’s or anybody else’s.”

[RELATED: On This Day in 1986, Hank Williams Jr. (And a Star-Studded Lineup) Reached No. 1 With a Classic Remake of His Dad’s 1940s Hit]

Hank Williams Jr. Blazes His Own Trail

In 1975, Hank Williams Jr. decided to finally start making the music he wanted to make. He tapped Toy Caldwell (Marshall Tucker Band), Chuck Leavell (the Allman Brothers Band), and Charlie Daniels to help him record Hank Williams Jr. & Friends. It was his 26^th studio album, but the first to showcase a sound that was truly his own.

After finishing the album, Williams took a hunting trip that almost ended his life. It was August 8, 1975. and he was on Ajax Mountain in Montana with local guides Dick and Walter Willey, hunting for goats, according to Distinctly Montana. Everything was going wonderfully. Then, the snow beneath his feet started moving.

“I am two beings,” he wrote of his thoughts as the thick blanket of snow began to slide. “One is an animal, insane with primeval fear, clawing at the air, gulping great draughts of air, looking frantically for escape. The other is very, very rational, a warmth that fights the insane fear. Be calm, because there’s no escape. You’re going to die here. You’re already dead.”

He fell almost 500 feet, battered by rocks and icy blades of snow that had thawed and refrozen. He came to a stop when he slammed face-first into a large rock. The result was gruesome. It was six hours before he finally reached the closest hospital, in Missoula, Montana. Miraculously, he lived.

Months after his near-fatal fall, in December 1975, Hank Williams Jr. & Friends hit record store shelves. Critics praised the new direction. The new fans he gained outweighed the old fans who walked away because he stopped pretending to be his father.

Two years and 11 surgeries later, he was ready to return to the spotlight. He was reborn with a new sound and a new image.

A New Level of Success

Hank Williams Jr. found a new level of success after the drastic change. He was one of the first country artists to pack arenas. As a result, he won Entertainer of the Year twice at the CMA Awards and three times at the ACM Awards. Additionally, his Monday Night Football theme brought him four Emmy Awards.

More importantly, he has released multiple songs that loom large in country music. “A Country Boy Can Survive,” “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),” “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,” and “The Conversation,” a duet with Waylon Jennings, are among those that have stood the test of time.

Featured Image by Paul Natkin/Getty Images