Hank Williams Was a Hillbilly Shakespeare

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the death of one the greatest musical talents in American history, Hank Williams. Singled out by the Pulitzer Prize committee for “his pivotal role in transforming country music into a major and cultural force in American life, Williams” died in January 1953 at age 29.

In a public career that effectively lasted just six years from 1946-52, Hank Williams took country music to new heights of popularity. Country music, usually derogatively called "hillbilly," was regarded as the music of the southern "poor white trash" and ridiculed as corny and unsophisticated. Williams began the process that changed all that.