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If there’s one thing the world knows and loves about Hank Williams Jr., it’s that a country boy can and will survive. And survive he shall! At the age of eight, Hank’s mother, Audrey Williams, coaxed him into performing. Hank followed in the footsteps of his father, Hank Williams, Sr., one of country music’s most influential and foundational artists.
And at eleven years old, Hank sang his first song at the Grand Ole Opry. These were catalyst moments that propelled Hank Jr. into a lifetime of music. In his late 30’s back in 1987, Hank won what would become his first of five awards as Country Music Entertainer of the Year. And in the year that followed, Born To Boogie, his certified platinum studio album, won a Country Music Association’s Album of the Year.
A Call To The Wild
Hank is no stranger to country life. The “Whiskey Bent and Hellbound” singer was known to get a little rowdy from time to time. We know Hank for his signature beard and sunglasses, but he’s lesser known for the reason behind them. Hank found himself falling off the side of a mountain, 530 feet down, to be exact. His recent Instagram post sheds light on the accident with the caption, “48 years ago today, 530 feet and 17 operations later.”
Hank shared a photo of the scene of the accident, and it’s a long way down the side of that mountain. Hank and his buddy Dick Willy set off on a hike around Ajax Lake in Montana. At around 9,000 feet of elevation, Hank slipped. He recalls a sharp boulder he landed on that hit him square between his eyes.
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
In his autobiography, Living Proof: The Hank Williams Story, he goes on to describe the incident. Hank tells his readers that he reached for his nose, but there was nothing there. He looked down into his hands and saw pieces of his teeth and jaw lying in his palms. He reached up to his forehead and instead of feeling the skull behind skin, he felt something squishy. However, he did not realize that he was touching a part of his brain, exposed.
17 operations will leave anyone with a severe amount of scarring, and especially on the face. The sunglasses and beard helped Hank cope with the disfiguring of his reflection, and became a signature look. You’d be hard-pressed to see him without it. Above all, Hank reflected on his experience, claiming that he felt “born again.” With injuries so severe, it is truly a miracle that he made it out alive. This further fueled his fire as a performer, and he set out to chase those dreams into reality.
Country Music lovers have been singing along to Hank’s popular songs throughout his entire career. And while he has no plans of hiking high anytime soon, fans can still enjoy his best tracks mountainside, gathered ’round the fire.
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