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Posts Tagged ‘Knoxville hotels’

Knoxville, Tennessee is the state’s third largest city. This does not mean that it comes in third in its cultural or heritage elements. In fact Knoxville is a dynamic city with an intriguing history and an enjoyable contemporary culture. It is attractive to a diverse collection of tourists who visit each year and stay in one of the Knoxville hotels. And while many of the guests in these resorts may well be aware of one of the city’s claims to fame, its marble quarry past and the fact that one of its nicknames is the city of marble, it was also the city in which Hank Williams spent the final night of life. This piece of country music trivia is likely to be less known though is certainly interesting to most once they become aware of it.

Hank Williams is one of the most influential songwriters of the twentieth century and is also one of country music’s greatest icons. He is well remembered and honored for being one of the pioneers in the style of music known as honky tonk and was adored for his charismatic stage personality. Some of his popular hits include Your Cheatin’ Heart, Hey Good Lookin’ and Jambalaya. And while he was loved and appreciated across the country Williams suffered from server alcoholism through most of his career and this eventually affected his work. He was even warned by his idol Roy Acuff to deal with his issues and lectured about the dangers of alcohol.

On New Year’s Day 1953 Williams had been scheduled to play a concert in Canton, Ohio. He was in Knoxville, Tennessee during the early part of the day and was unable to fly out due to weather restrictions. So, he prepared to leave the Andrew Johnson Hotel where he had been staying and before doing so he injected himself with morphine and vitamin B12. He then got in the back of a Cadillac to be driven out of the state. It is commonly rumored that Williams left the hotel with a bottle of whiskey in his hand though this has never been substantiated or confirmed. What is known is that when the driver pulled over at all-night rest station in Oak Hill, West Virginia, he discovered Williams to be unresponsive. Further investigation revealed that he was dead.