Garth Brooks Bestows Keith Whitley with Opry Membership, Creates Hank Williams Dilemma
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Saturday night, October 14th, 2023, was a special night at the Grand Ole Opry. Instead of presenting the regular Saturday night slate of performances, the Opry presented a tribute to country music legend Keith Whitley. Whitley’s widow, Lorrie Morgan, along with Whitley’s son and performer Jesse Keith Whitley, and Morgan Whitley were all there to celebrate the occasion.
Garth Brooks was also in attendance and performed in tribute to Whitley who Garth regularly cites as one of his primary influences. Garth Brooks also gives credit to Keith Whitley for planting the seed that helped sprout his career.
“I will say this: Garth Brooks would never be anywhere close to getting the life and the joy of singing I got if it wasn’t for Keith Whitley,” Garth said from the Opry stage, referring to himself in the 3rd person. “This guy is country music. So it’s an honor to be here today.“
Along with multiple performances of Keith Whitley songs, The Grand Ole Opry also bestowed Keith Whitley with an unprecedented honor, and one it has disallowed from other performers in the past: a ceremonial posthumous induction as a Grand Ole Opry member. The Grand Ole Opry presented Whitley’s survivors with a membership name plaque that will hang near the names of all of the other Grand Ole Opry members.
“As you guys know, the voice of Keith Whitley was silenced on May 9, 1989, just three weeks before he was supposed to become an official member of the Grand Ole Opry,” Garth Brooks said. “So this plaque is the plaque that you get when you become an Opry member. I’m very lucky to have one of these. It’s out there. The Opry house has decided in his recognition to put this out there with the other Opry members. Whether he got to be officially inducted or not, the fact of having Keith Whitley’s name out there among the rest will elevate the Grand Ole Opry and guys like me who have my name out there.”
The Keith Whitley plaque reads in part, “This plaque, a replica of those which recognize official Opry members in the Opry House Member Gallery, is presented in recognition that while Keith Whitley’s life may have ended before his dream of Opry membership was realized, his incredible influence endures on the Opry and country music worldwide. Grand Ole Opry October 14, 2023″
Mark Wills opened the Keith Whitley tribute by singing “I’m Gonna Hurt Her On The Radio,” and Garth Brooks finished the night out. But the tribute didn’t come with without a little bit of controversy. As opposed to finishing off the tribute with Keith Whitley songs, Garth finished the presentation singing his own material. This ruffled the feathers of some Whitley fans both attending in person and listening in via WSM.
That’s not the only controversy the night will stir. Though few will take issue with Keith Whitley’s posthumous ceremonial induction as a Grand Ole Opry member, this is the very same symbolic gesture that the family of Hank Williams and the long-standing Reinstate Hank movement has been asking the Opry to do for going on 20 years. Over this time, multiple Opry representatives have stated matter-of-factly that you cannot posthumously grace someone with an Opry induction, and that it would never happen. Now it has.
The Reinstate Hank online petition now has over 62,000 signatures on it, with even more signatures in the physical Reinstate Hank book that Hank’s grandson Hank Williams III would take around with him on tour. Hank’s grandchildren and performers Holly Williams and Hilary Williams have also signed it. Hank Williams Jr. has been spotted wearing Reinstate Hank T-shirts, and has also voiced support for the movement. Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Louvin, and other top country entertainers have signed it. If Reinstating Hank means nothing to anybody else, it means something to the Hank Williams family.
On September 17th, 2023, country music fans from around the world marked the Centennial of the birth of Hank Williams. The Country Music Hall of Fame held a special event marking the occasion, as did the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama with a ceremony and presentation at Hank’s grave. Other events were held in venues all around the world.
The Hank Williams Centennial seemed like the perfect opportunity to ceremoniously Reinstate Hank back into the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry did mention Hank on the Saturday night presentation the night before September 17th, with Charlie McCoy performing a Hank Williams song and grandson Sam Williams performing his new version of the Hank song “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
Hank Williams was kicked out of the Grand Ole Opry for drunkeness and missing rehearsals in 1952. The Opry promised that if Hank could clean up his act, it would welcome him back with open arms. But of course, Hank Williams never got that opportunity. He passed away in the back of his Cadillac on New Years Day, 1953.
The situation is eerily similar to Keith Whitley who was scheduled to become a Grand Ole Opry member just three weeks after he died of alcohol poisoning.
None of this should sully the honor that Keith Whitley has received. It underscores how often a pint of honey goes farther than a pound of flesh, with Lorrie Morgan, Jesse Keith Whitley and others working towards this honor with respect and reverence towards the Grand Ole Opry, while Hank Williams III took a more aggressive route. As some have also pointed out, Hank Williams already does have a name placard at the Opry as a previous member.
Either way, the ceremonial induction of Keith Whitley as a posthumous Grand Ole Opry member creates a stark dilemma for the institution and the continued questions about how it has handled the legacy of a man that arguably did more for the Grand Ole Opry than any performer: The Hillbilly Shakespeare, Hank Williams.
October 15, 2023 @ 9:30 am
Glad to see Kieth inducted.
There is absolutely no excuse not to reinstate Hank. Having said that, it often seems to me there is no rhyme or reason for how the Opry chooses who to induct or who will be required to adhere to their membership “rules” and who is allowed to slide year after year after year.
As for Garth using the occasion to play his own material rather than stick to the tribute, well, that was a jerk thing to do, but completely in his character. He is who he is. He keeps showing us who he is. No one should be surprised by it anymore.
October 15, 2023 @ 11:42 am
If the fans have anything to say about Hank Williams being inducted back to the Grand Ole Opry, I will guarantee he would be put back in. He was the very epidimy on country music and if you don’t call him that, what do you call country? I vote he be put back, and I am not by myself with this feeling.
October 16, 2023 @ 9:08 am
I’ve been thinking that same thing for well over fifty years!!!
October 17, 2023 @ 9:54 am
Please reinstate Hank senior my dad just loved hank he met me after school to tell me about his death that is how much he loved hank
October 17, 2023 @ 5:03 pm
The Opry absolutely ignored Hank as the rest of the world celebrated Hank’s 100th birthday. I’ve always said that Hank was bigger then the opry – the opry needed Hank more then Hank needed the opry.
I say screw the opry. – after the clear disrespect they showed Hank , who needs the opry.
The opry is a joke and this proves it. No disrespect to KW , it’s a shame he didn’t live long enough to enjoy his dream . But nowadays people who are 1 hit wonders get opry membership.
As long as the fans sing & play Hank’s music then he’ll live on through his fans.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:20 pm
I think it’s cool that they bring Kathy‘s people in as members of the grand old Opry. I have no problem with that. The problem I have is Hank Williams Senior is no better and not worse than the people with him putting in his memberships I believe that Hank Williams, Senior absolute deserves to be put back as a member of the Grand ole Opry. Case flow.
October 15, 2023 @ 4:24 pm
The opry has Sinned!…..
Again!
October 15, 2023 @ 4:39 pm
I’m definitely not a fan of GB as far as music goes but I highly doubt he just randomly changed his set, I kind of assumed they had the whole thing planned out to the minute with each song approved by the producers. Obviously I have never been on the Opry show so I could be wrong.
October 17, 2023 @ 12:57 pm
Gary would have to do his own songs because there is no way he could cover a Keith Whitley song. He’s not in the same universe as Keith vocally and he knows it.
October 15, 2023 @ 5:01 pm
Hank should have been inducted years ago. and they should have inducted him at the same time as Keith.He was the original.Keith was in and out of rehab many times over the years. No better, no worse than Hank. I hope Hank JR speaks up about this.
October 17, 2023 @ 6:46 am
Bob, RCA head Joe Galante and Keith’s manager Jack McFadden had scheduled a meeting with Keith on his tour bus May 10th(day after his passing). They were going to attempt to “force” him into yet another rehab stint. If they would have been successful, then Keith would have likely been in treatment during his scheduled Opry induction ceremony three weeks later. RCA had already paid for three attempts at getting Keith clean and sober. His last attempt in the summer of 1986, he got off the plane drunk returning from Hazelden Treatment Center. No better, no worse than Hank.
October 15, 2023 @ 5:09 pm
Most of the artist started their set with a tribute then sang their own songs. Jesse and Lorrie were the only ones that didn’t. Are they mad and Mark, Terri, and Ashley too?
October 15, 2023 @ 5:22 pm
I don’t think the issue was as much that Garth Brooks performed his own songs. People seemed angry that he concluded the tribute playing his own material as opposed to a Keith Whitley song, which would have been more appropriate considering the circumstances.
October 15, 2023 @ 7:39 pm
While I would generally agree that the show should have ended with a Keith song, if Garth followed the same pattern as other artists with the tribute songs first followed by their own, then I’d say the blame probably lays with the Opry for the scheduling more than Garth.
October 16, 2023 @ 6:13 pm
That is very true, Garth didn’t do anything different than the other performers. It was a great show!
October 15, 2023 @ 9:41 am
Hank definitely should be reinstated. After all these years, he probably remain the most influential and greatest country artist of all time.
October 15, 2023 @ 10:05 am
Garth is always going Garth.
What a show that would be … a reinstate Hank Williams Sr. show! With everyone still alive. I’ve never been to the Grand Ole Opry, but I’d make an attempt for that show.
Keith Whitley was my first love. I learned on guitar and sang “I’m No Stranger to the Rain” at my middle school talent show shortly after his death. Everyone kept asking “are you sure?” It was that or Whitley’s version of “I Never Go Around Mirrors.”
But I firmly believe Whitley’s induction feels a little hallow with Sr. not being reinstated.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:07 pm
There is absolutely no reason the Grand Ole Opry couldn’t have done for Hank what they just did for for Keith Whitley some time in the last 20 years, and then we could all move on from this. Pick a night at the Opry, have a bunch of people sing Hank Williams songs, make some sort of proclamation, unveil some sort of plaque, and you’re done. It’s a good excuse to get butts in seats and get people to pay attention to the Opry. I don’t understand what the harm is here.
Even if you think it’s kinda dumb. Just do it and kaboom, it’s an issue solved.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:41 pm
I feel like there is a little bit of an apples and oranges situation here. Keith Whitley was scheduled to have an opera membership awarded before he died. Hank Williams was previously employed by the Opry, and got fired.
Symbolically, bestowing Keith Whitley in honor, he was already recognized, acknowledged for, and died before he could receive is more similar to the American banjo Museum inducting buck Trent into the Hall of Fame this past weekend, even though he passed away before the ceremony, Them to rescinding a termination of employment posthumously
Buck Trent was supposed to be in person to receive his Hall of Fame induction, and Keith Whitley was supposed to be in person to receive his Opry membership and induction. They both die before these could be completed.
I recognize that giving an opera membership to a dead person does create a precedent, and we might see the Opry make moves to make peace with the Hank Williams camp, But let’s draw a distinction between what Keith Whitley got, which was a public acknowledgment of something that was already planned to move forward, And what the reinstate Hank movement wants. Which is essentially an unfiring
And I might not be barking up the right tree with my assessment, and it might be exactly what you outlined in the article, that Keith Whitley got this, because Lorrie morgan, and others have played nicer with the Opry, while Hank Williams III and others have been more abrasive
October 15, 2023 @ 2:09 pm
Ever since the Reinstate Hank movement started 20 years ago, the stated reason the Grand Ole Opry gives for why they will not reinstate Hank is because a dead guy can’t be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. This is what Opry General Manager Pete Fisher said when Reinstate Hank first started, and that is what the current Opry General Manager Dan Rogers said when he first assumed the post a few years ago. They just cut the legs off of their own argument with Keith Whitley.
Are these two instances exactly the same? Of course not. Are they similar? Absolutely. Both men died before they could become Opry members due to substance abuse and alcoholism.
Here’s another difference: The Reinstate Hank movement has been going on for 20 years, and has a petition with over 62,000 signatures on it, including prominent performers. The first time I ever heard anything about anyone even caring to make Keith Whitley a member was a few weeks ago when a little birdie whispered in my ear that this might happen during this tribute. That’s why I immediately stopped down and whipped out an open letter to the Opry to say, “Hey, the Hank Williams Centennial is the perfect time to get this done.”
https://savingcountrymusic.com/open-letter-to-the-grand-ole-opry-about-hank-williams-100th-birthday/
Just friggin’ do it. This whole standoff is stupid. They’ll make a big deal when it’s Dustin Lynch’s 7th Anniversary as a member, but can’t Reinstate Hank, or even make a significant effort to honor him at the Centennial? I don’t want to hear it.
October 15, 2023 @ 4:19 pm
No, Hank Williams squandered the opportunity he had been bestowed, when he was fired. Just because time softens feelings, (and the music is still popular), doesn’t mean the Opry owes it to him to posthumously give him back the honor. Keith Whitley never had the opportunity to attend his ceremony where he was being invited to be a member. He was about to receive that award, due to his good standing with the Opry. Apparently he had honored his commitments to the Opry (regardless of his personal struggles), or he would not be about to be invited to join when he passed. If he had made it to that honor, (which was already in motion when he passed),and then after the fact, wouldn’t rehearse, or show up sober to his performances at the Opry, and tthey fired him, and then he passed, THEN you would have the same situation. These two situations aren’t the same AT ALL, other than that they were both legends who died way too soon of the same disease. Congratulations to Keith Whitley and his family on this long overdo honor, that I’m sure meant so much to all of them.
October 15, 2023 @ 5:07 pm
It’s Hank William, FFSake!
October 15, 2023 @ 10:32 am
It’s all about Garth, even when it’s not about Garth he is so narcissistic it’s almost unfathomable. Garth is a country music legend has more money then God, but doesn’t even have the grace to honor Kieth Whitley during his moment, it’s like come on Garth.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:17 pm
I have never been a Garth Brooks fan. His concerts have always been to gimmicky from swinging across the stage on a steel cable to fireworks and light shows. I want to hear country music, not see all that stuff
October 15, 2023 @ 1:28 pm
Garth has always been one big gimmick, tears and all.
October 16, 2023 @ 12:08 pm
If hank had been just a mean assed drunk for no reason, that’s one thing. But we all know now that he was battling pain from a medical condition, which ar the time, was very poorly dealt with. Drugs, alchohol, depression, pain, all these things would be understood and treated today and the entire situation could have been avoided. So, FORGIVE, aknowledge his greatness, and do the right thing. It’s not that hard!
October 15, 2023 @ 3:52 pm
Say what you will about Garth being a gimmick, but there are many good reasons why he is so successful. His organization runs like a top and he has really good people around him. You don’t hear many bad Garth stories in the industry. I don’t know. I guess I’m a bigger fan of his people skills than I am of his art I guess.
October 15, 2023 @ 4:45 pm
Even Todd Snider was cool with him, he got paid for his non-recording of a song for Chris Gaines and the Beer run thing ended up giving him even more material. I stopped listening to country radio in the late 90’s but Garth certainly brought it to a wider audience, for better or worse.
October 16, 2023 @ 11:48 am
yep, the line where Garth refers to himself in the 3rd person is classic. Who in the world does that.
October 15, 2023 @ 10:36 am
I was very lucky to be at the 930 show. And while Ashley McBryde, Terri Clark and Garth sang their own songs there was a lot of Keith Whitley played – even songs from his bluegrass days. At one point I thought will there be enough songs of his to sing. They played videos of past performances and all the artists said wonderful things about Keith.
McBryde agreed to play last night weeks before it was a tribute show. I’m sure she hoped it would be good promotion for her new album. I’m glad she said three new songs along with a Whitley cover.
Finally Trigger can we discuss Don’t Close Your Eyes only now going platinum. They gave Lorrie and her kids platinum albums. I find that hard to believe. Those songs have been played consistently on radio for 35 years. No way that album didn’t sell millions in the 90s CD boom alone.
Still an amazing night.
October 15, 2023 @ 11:23 am
There’s usually an audit involved. Most of the time centered around big moments. To make the most out of promotion for them. The label is the one who usually submits for it. There’s a nominal fee last I checked it was $400.
October 15, 2023 @ 11:36 am
I work with the family of Conway Twitty. If you’re dead the labels basically forget about you unless there is someone like myself constantly pushing the exectives. We finally got UMG and Warner Brothers to aduit his early 90’s and 80’s catelog and five singles were certified Gold. So far they’ve not touched his main catelog from the 70’s, where such classics as “Hello Darlin”, “Louisiana Women, Mississippi Man”, “Linda on My Mind”, “You’ve Never Been This Far Before” and others have out the roof streams on the media outlets, but yet no certifications yet.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:03 pm
Hey Derek,
As David B rightly discusses, this really is about labels just not doing the necessary paperwork to fill out and verify the certifications with the RIAA. That’s why it’s important we lobby for this stuff and put pressure on the labels to make it happen. I may have something on this separately soon.
October 15, 2023 @ 11:05 am
I see nothing wrong with this. The Opry had made up their minds to make him a member and he passed away before it could happen. Their minds were made up. They probably should have done this ceremony shortly after he passed rather than waiting nearly 35 years. But at his death he was only a ‘star’. Today he has gone into a legend. This may be the reasoning.
As far as Hank Williams, Sr., well that is a different situation. He had his day in the sun. He was a member. And we all know how it ended. Hank does have a plaque on the membership wall. Along with Kitty Wells, Johnnie Wright, Faron Young, Ferlin Husky, Chet Atkins, Rose Maddox, DeFord Bailey, Holly Dunn, Martha Carson, Ray Price and other legends and stars who the Opry fired over the years.
I totally see two different situations here.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:24 pm
You just said exactly what I was thinking. No matter how much Hank has done for Country music or how much of a fan I am of him, he got fired from the Opry, Keith didn’t and passed away 3 weeks before his induction. It’s about time that Keith finally made the CMHOF as well as being a member of the Opry. Should have been done long ago. I might be biased because Keith was and has always been my favorite performer.
October 15, 2023 @ 11:12 am
There shouldn’t be posthumous members of the Opry. You either were a real member or not.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
Too late. The Opry just set the precedent.
One of the reasons we were told for years that you couldn’t Reinstate Hank is because it might open the floodgates of families of deceased Opry members demanding similar accolades. Well, here we are.
October 15, 2023 @ 11:41 am
Keith Whitley wasn’t being “reinstated”. He didn’t lose it. He died before he could receive it. Hank Williams had it, and did things to cause himself to be fired. Those actions have consequences. You don’t get to keep your job if you aren’t doing a good job. He wasn’t anywhere close ( when he died) to making right the negative, irresponsible things he did while a member of the Opry. Like the comment above, it isn’t the same situation at all.
October 15, 2023 @ 12:53 pm
I made very sure specifically to not say that Keith Whitley was “reinstated,” but was posthumously inducted ceremoniously. Are the two instances the exact same? Of course not. But when you’ve been told for 20 years that you cannot put Hank back into the Grand Ole Opry because he’s dead, and then you put in someone else who is dead, it clearly cuts the legs out from under your argument.
October 15, 2023 @ 1:33 pm
I’m for reinstating Hank. He was the guy that got me into country music and why I picked up the Hank Williams CD, Lovesick, Broke, and Driftin when I saw it on a Best Buy shelf many many years ago. I had not known a single thing about Hank 3 or any modern underground country at the time and it became one of my biggest music obsessions since. That being said, I was reading the article and thinking the same thing you’re saying.
October 15, 2023 @ 12:40 pm
I feel this should have been 2 articles. Celebrate Keith and separately highlight Hank.
October 15, 2023 @ 12:57 pm
I agree this should have been two articles.
There should have been an article about the reinstatement of Hank Williams surrounding the 100th Anniversary of his birth on September 17th, 2023, and an article about Keith Whitley’s ceremonious induction on October 14th. Unfortunately though, the Grand Ole Opry did not reinstate Hank on the 17th. This is why I wrote an open letter weeks before pleading for the Opry to get this done for Hank. They walked right into this.
I agree that it’s unfortunately for Keith Whitley and his family that there is some unpleasantness from some over what is supposed to be a joyous occasion. But as I said in the article, this doesn’t sully that situation. There are a dozen articles about Keith Whitley being inducted in various outlets. Someone needed to point out the hypocrisy here. It usually falls to Saving Country Music to say what is unpopular, but what needs to be said.
October 15, 2023 @ 3:08 pm
There’s a simple answer here. Stop going to the Grand Ole Opry and stop patronizing anything related to it if you believe Hank should be reinstated. The only way these bozos will pay attention is when their bottom line gets rocked. They don’t care about policy or precedent or the outcries of thousands, they just care about the dollars and cents. If you want to get Hank reinstated, just say “no”.
October 16, 2023 @ 5:07 pm
I don’t agree with this. With the state of country music the past ten years, the Opry is one of the only institutions that consistently honors classic country music. It’s extremely important to support the Opry. if you want to protect traditional country music.
October 15, 2023 @ 4:13 pm
About time keith was honored the way he should be. Dam liquor. Destroyed more families then any drug.Won’t leave the young people alone either sad situation. What a marvelous voice. Rest in peace young man
October 15, 2023 @ 4:26 pm
I hope the Opry does not “reinstate” Hank Williams.
I’d hate to see them kill the “Reistate Hank movement.,” which has evidently been around for 20 years and has people so passionate.
October 15, 2023 @ 4:54 pm
Garth talking about himself in third person? I wish the cosmos would have taken Garth instead of KW. What a dweeb!
October 15, 2023 @ 5:15 pm
Neither Keith nor Hank should be members.
The Opry messed up.
October 15, 2023 @ 6:07 pm
As I understand this, Keith Whitley is NOT a Grand Ole Opry member. They simply paid tribute to him and put up a plaque stating he was to be a member. So, technically they have not made a dead person a ” member”.
Hank has a plaque up on the wall. So by that they are acknowledging he HAD BEEN a member. They have stated they do not reinstate the dead as members. So are we asking The Opry to break that rule and reinstate his membership? Why?
Hank was fired because he was too drunk to play numerous times. I understand he died before having a chance to redeem himself, and that’s a shame. So maybe the best that they could do is have a tribute night as Trig suggests. But another plaque? If there is already one on display, then I don’t see that as necessary.
October 15, 2023 @ 10:13 pm
I just clicked on the Opry website.
Funny thing is, they don’t keep a list of their past members or honor them in any way. You won’t find Roy Acuff or Tex Ritter or Hank Snow or Minnie Pearl anywhere on the site. Of course, that could change in the future and the Opry may decide to honor its past and chronicle all its members.
I’m opposed to the “Reinstate Hank” movement in on principal, but for now, at least, there’s not really anything to reinstate him to.
October 16, 2023 @ 2:34 am
Those that run the opry have not a clue they have reckon country music they should. Be ashamed and I don’t need them to reinstate Hank because he is Mr country
October 16, 2023 @ 2:49 am
I don’t think Hank would have given a shit!
October 16, 2023 @ 4:28 am
Truest comment of the day. I agree 100% Mr. Black. If Hank Williams was alive today, he wouldn’t give a damn what those pretentious, elitist, phony ass-hats at the Grand Ole Floprey thought.
October 16, 2023 @ 5:49 am
Not taking away from Keith’s contributions to the genre but the guy did way less for Country music than Hank Williams has.
Another eye rolling move by the Opry.
October 16, 2023 @ 12:59 pm
And after Hank gets reinstated, the “Reisntate Hank” movement can move on to a new project: getting the National Park Service to fix that crack in the Liberty Bell. It’s been something like 280 years. What are those schlumps waiting for?
October 16, 2023 @ 2:28 pm
Hank Williams was hired to work on a radio program called the Grand Ole Opry. It wasn’t an honor. It wasn’t an induction. It wasn’t to get a plaque. It wasn’t so he could get a program on the Circle Network. It was so he could work on the biggest Country Music Radio show and make them money. If Hank had gotten himself straightened out and lived, he no doubt would have left the Opry as Eddy Arnold and Webb Pierce did. You people take this stuff too seriously with honoring people and inducting people. And stop calling him Hank Sr.
The Opry today is just a marketing tool for Gaylord. It’s no longer a radio show. The artists no longer are working for the Opry.
October 16, 2023 @ 2:42 pm
Hank was one of the greatest country music icons that started the country sound. Ask fans what they think about inducting him. If you let us vote, I will guarantee it will bee passed.
October 16, 2023 @ 5:23 pm
I think one thing to keep in mind is that the Williams family has done a remarkable job over the decades of promoting the legend of Hank Williams, which no doubt has kept the estate flourishing. It began with Lily and Audrey literally within days of his death. Reinstate Hank is part and parcel of that. This is not to say that I necessarily disagree with the movement, or that there is anything wrong with getting emotionally caught up in it. I love Hank and his music as much as anyone, but we can still acknowledge that his legacy has been very intentionally nurtured for a long time for very sensible reasons, and that can perhaps provide some broader context for this discussion.
October 17, 2023 @ 1:31 am
Got through the story without seeing the dreaded, “Hank Williams Sr.”
No, for that I had to read the comments.
One of them used the full, although incorrect “Hank Williams Senior.”
There is no such person.
Odd that people who consider themselves fans are ignorant of this.
October 17, 2023 @ 7:52 am
Tom,
Personally I refer to him as Hank or Hank Williams, though I suppose Hiram would be correct also. I’m not sure what the objection is though, if some fans say Sr. I’ve heard many a fan over the years, when someone says ” Hank” , then ask, ” Sr or Jr?” I suppose it’s an easy way of differentiating the two in conversation. Hiram went by Hank, and Jr. Uses that name also, though I suppose you could use Bocephus as a clarifier. Or Thunderhead Hawkins if you wanna refer to his blues alter ego! In my part of the country it’s not improper to call the patriarch of the family Sr, if one or more kids and grandkids bears the first name. So, yeah I’ve grown up hearing that term used frequently. I really don’t see the harm in a fan using it to differentiate.
Perhaps your thought is that simply saying Hank should automatically imply Hiram. And maybe you reason that by saying, Hank Williams holds more cultural weight than his son. Technically, I might agree with you based on influence and importance to the Country music Canon. However, Hank Jr is in some circles, quite the legend himself, and undisputedly has held considerable influence as well, so there’s that.
Eh….why get so hung up…just enjoy the music and salute the Williams boys and their mighty contributions to the rural culture and the American song catalog.
October 17, 2023 @ 11:08 am
Could also call him Hiriam. How is name is spelled on his birth certificate.
October 17, 2023 @ 9:03 am
Hung up; or just respect and a little knowledge?
Hank Jr was born “Randall”, his name was not changed until after his daddy was dead.
Hank Jr. can call himself whatever he likes, but you don’t change another man’s name posthumously.
As far as the often presented “to avoid confusion” offering; I’ve never been confused about who Hank Williams is.
October 17, 2023 @ 2:26 pm
Not sure how old you are, but the name “Hank Williams Sr.” now sounds retro. I can’t recall hearing him referred to as Senior in the last twenty-plus years, unless it was in the same sentence that Jr. was mentioned. Where I’ve seen that used is in clips from 50-plus years ago. I saw a video on YouTube of a show from the ’60s where the announcer, a southern gentleman, mentions “Hank Williams Senior.” think I even saw a 1960’s LP of Hank Williams hits where he’s referred to as “Sr.” on the album cover. Now, it’s just not done.
For whatever it’s worth, Hank Jr., when name-checking his father on record–which has been quite frequent–TOO frequent in the estimation of many–has always called him “Hank Williams.”
October 18, 2023 @ 3:17 am
I love it on Dwight Yokam’s Live at the Roxy, which is on the extended re-issue of Guitars Cadillacs, where he covers “My Buckets Got a Hole in It,” and talks about how his grandma in Kentucky loved Hank Williams Senior’s music, but not all his “drinking and carrying on.”