Hank Jr. Noticably Absent from Reinstate Hank
When Hank Williams III’s album Damn Right, Rebel Proud went to #2 in the charts last year, this was a significant development in the movement to Reinstate Hank Williams to the Grand Ole Opry because of the first track, “The Grand Ole Opry (Ain’t So Grand),” was a song protesting the Grand Ole Opry’s stance.
But believe it or not, this wasn’t the first song to call out the Opry for firing Hank and never reinstating him. That honor belongs to Hank Jr. and Waylon Jennings in the song, The Conversation. The chorus goes:
“Well back then they called him crazy, now days they call him a saint
Now the ones that called him crazy, are still ridin’ on his name
And later:
Back then they called him crazy, now a days they call him a saint
Most folks don’t know that they fired him from the Opry
And that caused his greatest pain
I’ve heard some criticize Hank Jr.’s music because it seems like he evokes his daddy’s name at nausea. On that point I would defend Jr., because you might talk at nausea about your daddy if he was Hank Williams too. But my question is if Hank Jr. feels like The Opry firing Hank Sr. caused him his greatest pain, and that the Opry is still riding off his name, why wouldn’t he at the least lend his John Hancock to the movement to reinstate him?
And where is the signature of Hank III’s half sister Holly, and Jr.’s sister Jett? I know the answer is simple: the politics of Nashville. Hank Jr., Holly and Jett all have reputations and careers to protect. But don’t they owe at least some, if not most of their career success to the Hank Williams name? There are over 42,000 signatures on the Reinstate Hank Petition and more on the physical petition, and only one from Hank Sr.’s immediate family.
And to do themselves one worse, on January 8th, Hank Jr. and Holly performed at the Grand Ole Opry; the place that “caused his (Hank Sr.) greatest pain” in Hank Jr.’s own words. This was against the wishes of Hank III, who has been boycotting the Opry since he started Reinstate Hank on the Opry stage during a Hank Williams tribute.
In some ways the Reinstate Hank movement seems stronger than ever. The signature numbers keep growing, and the word is spreading through a rabidly strong grass roots network. However to some Reinstate Hank means something more that just getting Hank Williams back in the Opry. It represents an element that is rife with swear words, drug references, and disrespect towards institutions. There are thousands of Hank Sr. fans who’ve probably never uttered a curse word, and would never be caught dead at a Hank III concert. The same reason Hank Jr.’s signature is not on the petition is probably the same reason theirs aren’t.
Hank III himself has said himself in interviews that his “Grand Ole Opry” song is “immature” and “may not be very helpful.” I think it helped greatly in some circles, but probably hurt in others. But the movement to Reinstate Hank is about something that everyone should be able to get behind, regardless of who started it. This movement is not about Hank III, it is about Hank Williams, and I think the movement would benefit from delineating that, and respecting any and all people whose common thread is a love for the music of Hank Williams.
January 12, 2010 @ 6:53 pm
Hank has no place whatsoever on the Opry’s roster. The Opry is not hand-in-hand with nashville politics. As a matter of fact, the has it’s own set of politics. But to the matter at hand: Hank Williams Sr. Simply put, just like the company you work for, or the club you belong to, or even as in the group of friends you hang out with, when you’re involved in a group your actions reflect on that group. If you had a friend that was giving you a bad name, you’d try to steer away from them, right? He was fired from the Opry because he was a heartbroken, pill popping, drunk. But that being who he was is what made his music mean so much. Reinstating him into the opry wouldbe like saying that he never did any of those things, and was, indeed, a saint. And he was not a saint. Reinstating Hank Sr. into the Opry would be wrong, because the way he chose to live was not typical of an Opry member. It would be a disgrace to who he was to pretend he was something that he was not. Done.
January 22, 2013 @ 9:37 pm
To “with all due respect”…….. drug addiction and alcoholism are diseases and were diseases when Hank Sr. suffered from them. Little was known about it’s cause or treatment in his day. Calling him a pill popping drunk is not cool at all. Almost as bad as you saying that about him, is the opry (many members of which suffer form the same disease…….. Glenn Campbell ring a bell, Wynona…heard of her have ya, seen their arrest pictures on the internet and TV?) Why are they still members and not the greatest songwriter of the golden or any age of country? And yet the opry mentions his name and uses his likeness. It’s bullshit. I am a fan of real country music, not this banjo pop crap that’s coming out these days. That being said I think the people asking for Hank’s reinstatement and signing petitions instead should make sure that the opry never gets one more dime from them period. F*ck the opry and F*ck what Nashville is palming off as country music. Thank God I get to choose not to buy it or listen to it. Real country is alive and well on the web!
January 22, 2013 @ 10:19 pm
“Why are they still members and not the greatest songwriter of the golden or any age of country?”
Because the 1950’s were a far less tolerant era than today.
I absolutely agree that Hank should be reinstated to the Opry. Nobody has contributed more to country music than he has. Furthermore such a gesture by the Opry would truly show that it has moved forward since the puritanical days when they fired Hank.
July 9, 2013 @ 3:24 am
Well, hell, he WAS a pill-popping heartbroken drunk.
Lying about what he was doesn’t change his lifestyle.
There’s nothing wrong with calling a whore a whore. Truth is truth, lady. And your opinion doesn’t change fact.
It is sort of hypocritical that eh Opry doesn’t mind using his music and images and name to further their cause, tho. If you;re gonna ban Hank, you ought to ban ALL of Hank, not just parts.
January 3, 2017 @ 3:06 am
If they’re so goddamn anxious to distance themselves from Hank for posterity you’d think you’d be able to walk 3 ft without bumping into something glorifying the man. But there’s a clueless idiot in EVERY crowd isn’t there?! Lol!!!
December 5, 2020 @ 12:26 am
Hank Sr was a great song writer .at good as they get . and Jr was smart to carry on his music. .of OT was not for Hank kr keeping his music alive as good as Hank Sr was we would not be hearing his .music today ..hank Jr did not live on his dads coattails sure he kept his style around now and then. Look a lot of people on country like G Jones. Waylon .merle hag and the list goes on. Jave jad addiction problems. .when you go See. A country artist. Or listen to their music. You support their talent. I dont care what they do once they leave the stage ..like a rock artist or an actor or comedian. .i dont care if. They smoke crack. . rob banks. .have a boyfriend and a girlfriend on the side .merle haggard .george Jones and randy Travis. Hank Jr and gene Watson and Kathy mattea. And Barbara mandrell are some of the finest performers. And most talented. . But Hank Sr was an awesome song writer maybe the best. A sure tie with the hag ..
January 14, 2010 @ 11:51 am
If Hank Jr. wasn’t on the roster the opry continues to ride on the williams family name because 1/08/10 clearly stated Hank Jr. and Holly Williams were appering at $54.00 a ticket. If Sr. is such a discrace to the Gaylord enterprises Opry why do they have a Sr. Impersonater greet you at the door? Why do they have Sr. Photos every where? “Reinstating Hank Sr. into the Opry would be wrong, because the way he chose to live was not typical of an Opry member. It would be a disgrace to who he was to pretend he was something that he was not” LOL Just how many Opry members do not pop pills and get drunk? Just face the music and admit it POP COUNTRY REALLY SUCKS and in my opinion is not country music.NOT DONE. reinstatehank.org
January 14, 2010 @ 12:01 pm
With all due respect to ‘with all due respect’…
What planet are you on? Have you been to the NOT so Grand Ole Opry lately? How many times do you seen the image of the “heartbroken, pill popping, drunk” you refer to Hank Williams as being? Did you shake the hand of the Hank Williams impersonator or get your pic taken with him? You either work for Gaylord Entertainment or you are dense….HELLO.. The Opry exploits Hank for FINANCIAL GAIN.
You say Hank lived a lifestyle “not typical of an Opry member” but have you noticed what has been on the stage of the Opry in recent years? How many of them have prescription drugs in their system and how many consume alcohol? You are a very narrow minded or mis-informed person….or dense.
As far as having a friend that is a “pill popping drunk”….hmmm, I’ve got them. I don’t try to steer away from them, rather I try to help. Not enable or humiliate or judge them…I would try to help. I am not worried that my association with persons who have substance issues or addiction will reflect badly on me, quite the contrary. You apparently do worry about what others think…you look for weakness in people and judge them.
As far as being a “disgrace to who he was”…he was a man, barely a man at the age of 29, who gave this world so much wonderful music. He continues to inspire young musicians and his music, with all due respect, will outlive all of us.
REINSTATE HANK TO THE OPRY OR STOP EXPLOITING HIM
December 30, 2010 @ 8:57 pm
I agree with cathy 100% she said it all with all due respect was nothing but a bunch a horse sh*t hank sr is a legend and the opry uses his likness and his name and he deserves to atleast be reinstated
December 31, 2010 @ 10:30 am
When the country music hall of fame came calling for Waylon, he said he wouldn’t be there, and he wasn’t.
I look at this in a similar but more extreme manor. The Opry needs Hank, uses Hank, but he isn’t there, and never will be. We all know who is in the wrong and Hank is laughing up in hillbilly heaven that the Opry can’t make it right.
I support the reinstate Hank, but it also isn’t such a bad thing that he isn’t. No one can argue, and win, that Hank should be left out.
Somewhat tongue-n-cheek…I don’t know that the guy was human so much as a country music prophet sent down. 29yrs….. heartbroken, lovesick, drinking, pills, rambling, kicked out of the Opry, dies in the back of a Cadillac, sounds like a guy was paying for all the sins of country music and continues to today… it is a testement that the folks that don’t want him, still want him.
God Bless you Hank, you may have been his second son he sent down.
January 14, 2010 @ 12:15 pm
In response to ‘with all due respect’ I think Hank Snr should be reinstated into the Opry because of the huge and undeniable contribution he made to the musical landscape of country music. Since when does the fact he was a “heartbroken, pill popping drunk” negate that? We’re just asking he be reinstated into the Opry not given a Sainthood. His behaviour may have been “disgraceful” in the opinion of some but I think to focus on that is missing the point entirely. The Grand Ole Opry is a musical institution, not a moral one.
January 14, 2010 @ 12:18 pm
Well now, if the opinion of that poster is that Hank Williams was a heartbroken pillpoppin’ drunk and has no business on the Opry Roster, than take him off. I mean, TAKE HIM OFF. No more profiting from such a wayward artist, no more using him, no more disrespecting his God given talent as a songwriter and singer, no more tears in my beer, no more nothing. The Opry is Nashville politics all the way. If this is the case, than all drinkers should be banned from the Opry. No one who takes a pill can enter through their doors. No one heartbroken, lost and lonely. No one ! Get those “ne’er do wrongers” to fill those Opry seats and get your hands out of Hank Williams legacy. It’s a matter of respect and Hank Williams did more for country music than the entire current roster of the Grand Ole Opry. Such double standards when current “country songs” speak of drinking and such. It’s ok to disrespect Hank Williams and pimp out a nineteen year old? It’s ok to have someone dressed up as Hank Williams stand outside the Ryman and impersonate that pill poppin’ drunk? It’s ok to profit off a man who wrote more than 700 some songs, kick him out of the organization and STILL use him and his likeness even though the Grand Ole Opry didn’t want him in 1951? NOW it’s ok ? Which is it Gaylord Enterprises? What is your stance? Either he’s not good enough or he is. That’s the issue and that is why I want him reinstated. Hank Williams was good enough, is good enough and will always be good enough. REINSTATE HANK.
January 14, 2010 @ 12:21 pm
As far as the reinstate Hank mission goes, I respect what the movement is about, I understand how awful it is that these corporate prostitutes at the Opry insist on using the man’s image to make themselves a little richer all while denying the legacy of the music he made and using the tragic end to a tortured life that happened over half a century ago to justify it. But on the other hand, there is nothing country about the Opry anymore. And as long as they’re going to stay that way, it would indeed be a disgrace to the legend of Hank Williams.
That being said, if the Opry truly feel that he has no place in their institution, stop profiting off of his image. Stop using his likeness to try and buy credibility for your god damned manufactured, soulless, shills that you slap a fucking cowboy hat on and deem, country. You can’t have it both ways. And I think that’s what this entire movement is all about. But I could be wrong.
But yeah, the topic at hand. Hank Jr. and Holly Williams playing the Opry. Not only is that an absolute disgrace to the hard work and the stand that Shelton has made in hopes of forcing some of these suits in Nashville to do the right thing. But it’s a disgrace to the legacy of Hank Williams himself.
Don’t get me wrong, Hank Jr, in his day, was an incredible musician and songwriter. In the 70’s and early 80’s, he did his family name and legacy proud. He wrote it, sang it, and lived it. All that I feel you could ever ask of ANYONE, let alone a man who could have easily just lived comfortably off of his father’s name.
But what the fuck happened? A man who once was so fierce about doing his own thing, and doing it well, is now Music Row’s number one street walker. What a slap in the face to his true fans.
I say FUCK Hank Williams Jr. for doing this. It was bad enough with him parading around on television pimping an absolute tool like Kid Rock to the masses. It was disgusting watching him try to sell off what little bit of credibility he had left to try and make Gretchen Wilson seem like anything. But for that rotten fucker to negate the fire of a grassroots movement like this all for a god damned payday is an all new low. Fuck him.
January 14, 2010 @ 1:06 pm
For the record:
Last night @ Layla’s Hank III again mentioned that he wrote to “Hank Jr.” in hope that .”…he would not play the Opry until his father was reinstated.”
Shelton said Hank Jr. texted him the next day that he (Jr) was “done with the Opry”.
Hank Jr. is a day late and a dollar short on that one…unless he’s ready to “jump on the bandwagon” and begin to throw a little weight behind the REINSTATE HANK movement…
January 14, 2010 @ 5:27 pm
To all due respect….If it wasent for HANK WILLIAMS SR and a few others there would be no country music. For the time i was old enough to understand music my grandparents taught me about the legends of country and what it meant to them. it’s funny you have the balls to call Hank Sr a heartbroken pillpopping drunk. everyone has their deamons and who gives you the right to judge anyone. im sure todays pop music crap has alot of them have much more addictions. That dosent take away from his legacy of music and what his memory means to alot of people. I know if the shit music they try to shove down our throats today. I would not even love or like country music. If he got thrown out for being drunk. Then they should throw the lot of them out. I have had alot of friends with problems but u try and help them you dont disown them. Thosse country music awards on tv make me sick to my stomache when they come on. Dude u need a history lesson on REAL COUNTRY. If it wasent for my grandparents teaching me what true country was. I’d be as damn ignorant as you! HANK WILLIAMS SR deserves the respect in death. He never recieved in life. HE WAS AND IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY SINGER AND SONGWRITER!!!!!!!!!IF IT WASENT FOR HIM WHAT WOULD THERE BE POP COUNTRY SHIT!!!!!!!!
REINSTATE HANK!!!!!!!!
TO YOU WITH ALL DO RESPECT GO GET YOUR BRAIN CHECKED I THINK U GOT A TUMOR!!!!!
January 14, 2010 @ 6:38 pm
I don’t feel it is right to critizise Hank Jr. We don’t know the whole story. But it is a real crime to country music not to re-instate Hank Williams Sr. He IS one of the Grandfathers of REAL country music. What he was kicked out for is common today. It is pure disrespect to his memory and his family to continue to use his name, influences and music for monetary gain. Quit dickin’ around and reinstate the man. He more than diserves it. How long does it take to pay for your mistakes?
January 14, 2010 @ 10:36 pm
I feel like you all COMPLETELY misunderstood me. I am a country americana musician. I have more respect for Sr., a guy who died a looooong time before I was even born, than I have for alot of people I know. But if you really know his story, it’s hard to think that he should be on the Opry roster. I mean, in those days, the Opry was a family show, with headliners the likes of the all so perfect Carter Family. Hank was fired for not showing up for almost a year, and when he did, he would pass out on stage. Or in his car. Or backstage. How do you not fire someone like that? It was done in the hopes that it would change his attitude, and that if it did, they had every intention of bringing him back. But it didn’t. But that’s not the point, the past is the poast, and as I said in my last post, the music is only good because he didn’t. Hank Williams was not an AMAZING person, but he was an AMAZINGLY intriguing person. The story of his life is like a 29 year train wreck waiting to happen. You can’t, to this day, look away. AMAZING.
I’m also not saying that Hank Sr. doesn’t deserve the credit. He does. More even. But the Country Music Hall of Fame is what matters, not the Opry roster. I tend to be anti-opry, for the guy who says I must for for Gaylord.
The fact that they use the image and this is even a debate is wrong to me.
But my entire point is that I would be alot more upset if they used his image AND held him up like he was their Golden Boy, which he was definitely not.
If that was going on, we’d all be arguing to remove Hank from the roster inorder to sever his corporate ties. Come on, you know it’s wrong.
Hall of Fame matters. Not Opry.
January 15, 2010 @ 11:58 am
In my mind, and it’s been stated by others further up the comment list, the opry can deal with their shared legacy as they choose. The problem is that they want to have their cake and eat it too. They can’t have him remained banned, but use his likeness to promote themselves.
And honestly, even though he died on the outs with them, it would have been a very gracious move on their part to reinstate him posthumously.
January 15, 2010 @ 12:34 pm
Reinstate Hank williams Sr. He helped country music more than anybody of his time. He deserves better than the way he has been treated. His death was untimely,and I for one think he had a lot more to give but he ran out of time. He is an American icon for his generation. I grew up with his songs coming out of my fathers stereo speakers. Many country music stars do the same things that Hank did. Reinstate Hank… It’s the right thing to do…
January 15, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
I’m with you when your right dirtbag and Cathy… And to “with all due respect”, go back to Mexico…
January 15, 2010 @ 1:13 pm
Well the Grand Ole’ Slopry ain’t so grand any more !!!
January 15, 2010 @ 7:05 pm
“Hank Williams is being exploited by the Grand Ole Opry; a place that is using his name and likeness to promote their BUSINESS. How can they ban someone from their doors yet use them in radio ads, online, and through television specials and other forms of media promotion. There’s even a quote on the website from Brad Paisley stating, “That circle is the most magical thing when you are a performer, says Brad Paisley, “to stand there and get to sing on those same boards that probably still contain dust from Hank Williams boots.” “The circumstances surrounding the issue are based on policy and discrepancies. Why can’t banned members be reinstated post/death? The wheels were turning to reinstate Hank, so why didn’t they? Why are dead members techinically not considered members once they have passed? Also, what about the Opry’s treatment of older members, the ones’ who have kept the Opry alive all these years? Is it right that the Opry can bring them back to the stage as much or as little as they feel “neccessary”? Would Hank even want to be a part of the Opry if he were still alive today? These are issues that the Opry needs to address and needs to be addressed to the Opry.” “Hank III has set out on a journey to find the answers to these questions and to raise awareness to an issue that he, along with many others, feel need to be brought into the light regarding one of America’s seemingly greatest music institutions. We have several forms of attack from grassroots barn murals, to rallies, a full length film, features in Metal Farm Magazine, and the list keeps growing. We have interviews with David Allan Coe, Dwight Yoakam, the newest Grand Ole Opry member Charlie Daniels and many other country music legends, musicians, friends, family, even some Grand Ole Opry personnel.” “Last, and most important, we have a petition book. This book, designed by Keith Neltner, with an opening written by Shelton Hank Williams (Hank III) in his own blood will be out there at the rally and on tour with Hank III for EVERYONE to sign. From the famous to the common person, each signature is equally significant and a part of history in the making.” “The Opry is to be fully aware of their hypocrisy and that the ONLY way that this can be made right is to REINSTATE HANK back in the Opry.” The Opry Has Sinned, Blake Judd (director) Keith Neltner (assistant director) http://www.reinstatehank.org http://www.neltnercreative.com http://www.juddfilms.com
January 20, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
Sometimes I feel like you guys just want to argue, not “Save Country Music”. I weep for the circle.
January 20, 2010 @ 12:07 pm
The commenters, not the blog owner.
January 29, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
dude, eff hank jr. and hank III. god, talk about garbage. Who even cares what the Williams family does? Hank Jr. has yet to have a popular song in which he doesn’t name drop his father. He’s done nothing for country music. And, to call Hank III country music is flat out retarded. He’s a joke. A JOKE! God, what an idiot. The best thing for Hank III would have been a legal name change, because he is a disgrace to the man he’s named after. As far as he rest of em, who cares? Hank III needs to quit, because other than you ridiculous losers, nobody likes him and he’ll die of an overdose within the next 5 years anyway. Morons.
January 29, 2010 @ 7:01 pm
Atleast Shooter Jennings can play music. The only thing Hank III is good for is owing people money for coke.
December 30, 2010 @ 9:01 pm
eff that you apperently dont know much about the williams family now yeah jr name drops his daddy every chance he gets and hank 3 isnt for everyone but he is doing his own brand of country with a huge following so apperently there are a lot of like minded people out there and his music is good country good outlaw country not the mainstream pop country that most people follow and love like you prolly do sooo eff you
January 29, 2010 @ 10:04 pm
There’s is no logical reason why the Opry shouldn’t reinstate Sr. But now that I think about it they may have some rhyme. Just reading the passion that is displayed on this board shows that the Hank Sr’s name has a lot of power behind. Is it possible without all the hooplah and disgust they might have already reinstated him? Maybe they are letting it build and build and when it gets to the peak they will fold and make a lot money when it happens, and then the outlaw movement will be in full force, and then they will capitalize on that and sign as many as they can and then suddenly act like pop country was garbage. I don’t like that idea at all.
January 30, 2010 @ 1:25 pm
which is exactly my point! That the opry has it’s own set of politics!
This argument is so goofy.
October 3, 2011 @ 8:41 am
@with all due respect
Not as goofy as your drunken BS!
February 8, 2010 @ 11:02 pm
I have signed the petition along with all of my friends. The opry has no reason not to reinstate sr considering the fact they have a greeter and pictures of him everywhere if they truly want to kick him out take the pictures away and replace that greeter with some pussy ass rascal flatts impersonator. Everyone trash talks 3 but he is one of the coolest most down to earth people you’d ever meet. Once in a great while you see an artist that truly puts himself into his music and Hank 3 is one of this rare breed. Mainstream country and music in general is becoming so commercialized now days that it’s refreshing to see an artist like 3. If your so worried about who your associated with why not surround yourself with real people with character and a real message. There’s hardly a person in the world that’s never been drunk or tried drugs espicially in the music industry but everyone wants to judge him. It’s more then that it’s personal against sr and the opry has sinned. If all these people today say games, music, tv, etc. cause people to be violent and kill others or themselves then the opry had a hand in sr’s death the least they could do is reinstate him. Reinstate the hillbilly Shakespeare once and for all he deserves it.
July 6, 2010 @ 12:45 pm
I think it’s pretty simple. If they think that Hank was such a bad guy and did’nt want to associate with him, that’s fine. But once you say you’re not allowed to perform here and we want nothing to do with you, you can’t just ride on their name. If you were to good for Hank then, what’s different now? Fuck the “grand” ole opry and everyone who is sticking up for the bastards!
October 5, 2012 @ 9:42 am
There’s no reason he shouldn’t be put back in there if they put Darius ruckus black ass in there …. How can u put him in there but not hank ! Hank belongs in there ! The hank generation is a legend !
October 5, 2012 @ 10:12 pm
That last comment was directed to Magnum.
October 5, 2012 @ 10:11 pm
Do you think you are helping your case with your racist language? You realize that this is a public forum, right?
June 2, 2013 @ 7:48 pm
Thats what’s wrong today we look the other way,I think hank should of been bannd,he was a drunk,no thougth of his children ,wife or fans,yes it is a sickness than get help,he chose not to, maybe he would of got restated like Johnny cash did before he died,but hank drank himself to death first,he’s a great artist paved away for country today,but not a role model to look upto,we need to be hold accouable for or actions or we never learn,it’s sad that hank died before he could beat his demons. Yes a lot of country stars drink ,but that wasn’t only rules hank broke,why have rules if they are not in force ,