Hank Williams Museum Celebrates Legend’s 103rd Birthday Sept. 12

Montgomery’s Hank Williams Museum will commemorate the 103rd birthday of the internationally-recognized music legend on Saturday, September 12 with a memorial concert featuring Moe Bandy, who recorded 10 songs that reached number one on the country music charts along with 40 Top 10 singles and five gold albums, and an annual graveside memorial service.

American Idol standout and traditional country music artist Alex Miller is also scheduled to perform along with other acts and tributes.

The museum’s traditional graveside memorial service and wreath-laying event in honor of Williams will also take place on September 12 at 9 a.m.

“Though he died at just 29 years of age, Hank left a lasting musical legacy that continues to be appreciated by each new generation, and we feel it is important to celebrate and recognize the birthday of one of Alabama’s favorite sons and greatest legends,” Hank Williams Museum Director Beth Petty said. “Our memorial concert features entertainers who perform the traditional country music that Hank and his contemporaries played, and it serves as an appropriate way to honor his 103rd  birthday.”

Bandy, the concert’s headliner, has charted 66 country hits overall, won the Academy of Country Music Song of the Year Award in 1979 for his duet with Janie Frickie, “It’s A Cheatin’ Situation,” and earned the Country Music Association’s Vocal Duo of the Year Award with Joe Stampley in 1980.

His long list of classic country hits includes “Bandy The Rodeo Clown,” “Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life,” “Till I’m Too Old To Die young,” “Americana,” “Just good Ol’ Boys,” “Barstool Mountain,” “I Cheated Me Right Out of You,” “I Just Started Hatin’ Cheatin’ Songs Today,” “Rodeo Romeo,” “You Haven’t Heard the Last of Me,” and “Holding The Bag.”

Miller, a 23-year-old performer from Kentucky, received national attention and acclaim in 2021 when he auditioned for “American Idol” and won praise from judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan for his self-penned song, “I’m Over You, So Get Over Me.”

He has since released two full-length albums, performed at the legendary Grand Ol’ Opry and Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, opened for several country superstars, and regularly appears at festivals, fairs, concerts, and venues throughout the United States.

Other performers at the birthday concert include Arty Hill, Wyatt Aleman, and Dalton McSwain. Jay Dean, the well-known radio host of “Country Legends Jukebox” will once again serve as emcee of the event.

Tickets for the Hank 103rd Birthday Concert, which will begin at 3 p.m. at Troy University’s Davis Theater in Montgomery, cost just $35 for general admission and may be purchased through the Eventbrite website. 

Reserved VIP seats are also available for $45, and they must be purchased directly from the Hank Williams Museum by calling (334)262-3600 or in-person at 118 Commerce Street in Montgomery.

The Hank Williams 103rd Birthday Wreath Laying and Memorial Service will take place at his gravesite in the Oakwood Cemetery Annex, located at 1304 Upper Wetumpka Road in Montgomery, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 12. 

The Sheppard Family Band, whose members are cousins of Hank Williams’ former wife, Audrey Sheppard Williams, will perform beginning at 8:45 a.m. prior to the ceremony.

Additional information about the events may be found on the Hank Williams Museum Facebook page or its website, located at www.thehankwilliamsmuseum.net.

Williams, one of only 17 people enshrined in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was born in Mount Olive, Alabama on September 17, 1923. 

He recorded 11 number one hits and placed 43 songs on the country music charts during his brief career. Several of the songs he penned also reached the pop charts under other artists. 

Williams passed away on January 1, 1953 en route to a New Year’s Day concert in Canton, Ohio.

The Hank Williams Museum, which is located at 118 Commerce Street in Montgomery, Alabama, was founded 27 years ago and houses the largest collection of personally-owned Hank Williams items on display anywhere in the world with the Olympic Blue 1952 Cadillac Series 62 convertible in which he died serving as the centerpiece of the exhibit.