Last Sunday (April 21) Hank Williams Jr. performed a set of country classics at the Two Step Inn Festival in Georgetown, Texas. He took the stage sporting a hat emblazoned with the word “ICON” and proceeded to live up to it with a long list of hits, memorable songs, and stage banter. About halfway through his set, he launched into one of his signature songs and the theme from Monday Night Football, “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Hank Jr. released “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” as the second single from his 1984 album Major Moves. The album’s name is fitting for the single because it made major moves on the country charts and beyond. It peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard country singles chart and that was just the beginning.
In 1989, Hank Jr. reworked the song to “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” for Monday Night Football. Two years later, it would bring Williams the first of four Emmy Awards for Best Composed Theme. This made Bocephus the first country artist to win an Emmy. The original song also brought him two Grammy nominations.
Williams also released a video for the song. It won the first Music Video of the Year trophy at the CMA and ACM Awards. In short, “All My Rowdy Friends” was—and continues to be—a big deal for Hank Jr. As a result, he had to remind folks at Two Step Inn just how big the song was.
Hank Williams Jr. Introduces “All My Rowdy Friends” to the Festival Crowd
Before playing the song, Hank Williams Jr. reminded the crowd of some of the song’s accolades. “Thirty-three years, seven Super Bowls, Grammy Award, Emmy Award,” he began. “I’m the guy that wrote the f—ing song,” he added before asking “Do you wanna drink? Do you wanna party?”
Hank Jr. was a little off in his introduction. First, “All My Rowdy Friends” will be forty years old in October. Also, the song never won a Grammy. However, it did garner two nominations in 1985. It was up for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male, and Best Country Song. Additionally, it didn’t just win one Emmy Award. It won four consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Composed Theme starting in 1991.
Either way, there’s no denying that it’s a country classic.
Featured Image by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for dcp
