Why Success for Hank Williams Jr. Meant Following His Father’s Self-Sabotaging Ways: “You’re Going To Die at 26”

One of the most common stereotypes in the entertainment world is the tortured artist. For decades, the stereotype been romanticized and glorified to a detrimental level. However, there is something to say about artistic products coming from deep places of pain.

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One individual known for such a practice is Hank Williams. Hank Williams’ short life and career were marked by trouble brought on by addiction and mental health battles. Frankly, his music is synonymous with the internal strife he endured, and consequently, he is one of the many individuals who fall into the tortured artist category.

Don’t get us wrong, if Williams hadn’t suffered from hardship, addiction, and died an early death from it, his music still would be highly revered. Although there is something about the tortured artist archetype that turns a mere singer into a bona fide legend. When Hank Williams Jr. was coming up as a musician, he was encouraged to follow in his father’s self-sabotaging footsteps.

People Thought Hank Williams Jr. Needed to Struggle

Again, there is something to say about art that comes through grave pain. However, great art can certainly be made without it. Can’t it? While Hank Williams Jr. was striving to meet the level of his father’s talent under his own name, he divulged that people told him he needed to endure more pain to match his father’s fame.

In a 1987 interview with ABC’s 20/20, Hank stated, “It was always, ‘Your daddy went through this stuff. You’ll have to go through it. We have to go through these things.’ Depression, you know, that’s a big sport to a lot of people, I think. It was just drilled into me a lot,” added Hank Williams Jr.

Williams was headed down that path for a while. A path that had been instilled in him ever since he could walk and talk. However, after a failed suicide attempt and a visit with a professional, Williams’ perspective changed. He recalled the doctor telling him, “Let me just lay it out there for you. You’ve been taught from the time you can possibly remember to look like, act like, be like, everything exactly like your legendary father.” “They’ve done a d—n good job,” and “You’re going to beat him because he died at 29. You’re going to die at 26.”

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