HANK WILLIAMS JR. IS RETURNING TO THE FORD CENTER
Evansville, IN – Hank Williams Jr. is making a stop in Evansville, IN at the Ford Center this August! Friday, August 20th at 7:00pm fans can catch Hank Williams Jr. live on stage at the Ford Center with special guest Walker Montgomery.
Randall Hank Williams was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on May 26, 1949. A month later, his father made his Grand Ole Opry debut, singing “Lovesick Blues†and drawing six encores. Hank Williams nicknamed his son “Bocephus†after comedian Rod Brasfield’s ventriloquist dummy, and that nickname has stuck with him throughout his career.
Hank Williams Jr. was raised in Nashville and learned music from the finest of teachers. Earl Scruggs gave him banjo lessons, and Jerry Lee Lewis showed him piano licks. At the beginning of his career, mother Audrey Williams worked to mold her son into a miniature version of his late father, and for 20 years he struggled, uncomfortably, to break the mold. When he finally found his own sound and style, he reached sales plateaus that his father never dreamed of: 20 gold albums, six platinum albums (one of which has sold more than five million copies) and 13 chart-topping albums.
At age 11, he made his own Opry debut, walking across the same wooden boards his father had walked on, and, justAnd then in 1975 everything changed for Hank Williams Jr. The music world caught on to those changes around 1979, the year he released his first million-selling album,
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, along with his autobiography, Living Proof. In the early 1980s, he catapulted to full-onsuperstar status, with major hits including “Texas Women,†“Dixie On My Mind,†“All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),†and in 1984, “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,†a party anthem featuring a riotous video that starred Bocephus in conjunction with stars from inside (Merle Kilgore, Porter Wagoner, Kris Kristofferson, etc.) and outside (Cheech and Chong) country music. like his daddy, singing “Lovesick Blues†and encoring.
And then in 1975 everything changed for Hank Williams Jr. The music world caught on to those changes around 1979, the year he released his first million-selling album,
Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, along with his autobiography, Living Proof. In the early 1980s, he catapulted to full-onsuperstar status, with major hits including “Texas Women,†“Dixie On My Mind,†“All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),†and in 1984, “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,†a party anthem featuring a riotous video that starred Bocephus in conjunction with stars from inside (Merle Kilgore, Porter Wagoner, Kris Kristofferson, etc.) and outside (Cheech and Chong) country music. like his daddy, singing “Lovesick Blues†and encoring.
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In 1987, Hank, Jr. won his first of five country music entertainer of the year awards, and the two albums released that year – Hank Live and studio effort Born To Boogie – were platinum sellers. Born To Boogie was the CMA’s album of the year in 1988, the year he won the CMA and ACM’s top entertainer prize. Hank’s star rose far beyond the country world in 1989, when manager Merle Kilgore arranged a deal with ABC’s Monday Night Football to have Hank, Jr. rework “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight†into a theme song to be played before each Monday’s game. Two years later, the Monday Night theme won the first of four straight Emmy Awards, and Hank, Jr. would be the singing voice of Monday Night Football for 22 years. |
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that year – Hank Live and studio effort Born To Boogie – were platinum sellers. Born To Boogie was the CMA’s album of the year in 1988, the year he won the CMA and ACM’s top entertainer prize. Hank’s star rose far beyond the country world in 1989, when manager Merle Kilgore arranged a deal with ABC’s Monday Night Football to have Hank, Jr. rework “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight†into a theme song to be played before each Monday’s game. Two years later, the Monday Night theme won the first of four straight Emmy Awards, and Hank, Jr. would be the singing voice of Monday Night Football for 22 years. |
The father lived 29 years, and the son spent nearly that long standing in his shadow. But it is what the son did after turning 29 that has landed him a place in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, that has made him a BMI Icon award winner, and one of the best-selling artists in country music history. By finding his own powerful voice, by turns rebellious and vulnerable, he has become a music icon. He remains an inspiration to Alan Jackson, Kid Rock, Jamey Johnson and other followers and a sure-bet for eventual entry into the Country Music Hall of Fame, where his plaque will be displayed in perpetuity, just like his daddy’s, only different. Stop and think it over.
Tickets go on sale Friday June 11th at 10:00am CST. Tickets will be available for purchase at ticketmaster.com and they will also be available for purchase at the Ford Center ticket office beginning June 14th at Noon.
FOOTNOTE; Ford Center is managed by VenuWorks of Evansville, LLC. For more information on Ford Center visit: www.thefordcenter.com www.facebook.com/fordcenterevansville www.twitter.com/thefordcenter.
