In June 1949, an enamored audience called Hank Williams back for six encores as the legendary country star made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Unfortunately, the hallowed institution would ban him from its halls just three years later following multiple no-shows to scheduled appearances. While Opry manager Jim Denny planned to eventually reinstate him, the “I Saw the Light” crooner died months later on New Year’s Day 1953. While he would never grace the Opry stage again, his son and grandson would carry on both his name and his legacy. On this day in 1996, Hank Williams III made his Grand Ole Opry debut on the same stage where his grandfather once stood.
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Hank Williams III Channeled His Granddad in Historic Performance
On Sept. 21, 1996, 23-year-old Hank Williams III carried a piece of his grandfather with him onto the Grand Ole Opry stage. Sporting a black western shirt trimmed with green fringe that belonged to Hank Sr., he went on to perform “Lovesick Blues”—the very same hit his granddad performed for his own Opry debut nearly 40 years earlier.
“It really blows me away to stand right here in this spot where three generations have stood to this day,” Hank III said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Carrying On That Old Family Tradition
Now 52, Hank Williams III bears a striking resemblance to the late family patriarch. Longtime Grand Ole Opry member Minnie Pearl recognized it immediately. “Lord, honey, you’re a ghost,” the Hee-Haw star reportedly told Williams III.
Still, the alt-country/cowpunk/psychobilly musician had no illusions about replicating The Singing Kid’s performance. During his Opry debut, he emphasized that he was just there ” to pay my respects.
“I’m not gonna try to be another Hank Williams, ’cause there never will be,” Hank III said. “I’m just glad to be his grandson and try to keep on a country music tradition.”
[RELATED: Family Matters: The Larger-Than Life Legacy of the Hank Williams Family]
Williams II has carried that mindset into his music career. Three years after his Opry debut, he released his solo debut, Risin’ Outlaw. Although, if you ask him, his real debut came with 2002’s Lovesick, Broke and Driftin‘.
“I hate it, can’t even listen to but maybe two songs on it,” Williams III previously said of his debut. “I said (to the label, Curb Records) that every damn interview that I do I ain’t gonna talk good about it.”
Since going independent in 2011, the “Country Heroes” crooner has veered further from his roots, incorporating heavy metal and punk rock into his work. Like his father and grandfather before him, Hank Williams III is carrying on that old “Family Tradition” of marching to his own beat.
Featured image by Nicky J. Sims/Redferns/Getty Images
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