Hank Thompson – The King of Western Swing

This website is dedicated to the loving memory of Hank Thompson and to all of his fans and friends who loved him and his music.

Hank Thompson enjoyed an illustrious career that spanned over seven decades. His music style, a mixture of fiddles, electric and steel guitars, and, of course, Hank’s distinctive vocal style, was born in Texas, but as the hits started coming, spread over the entire country. A prolific songwriter and recording artist he charted over 75 songs from 59 albums including several #1s and his seminal “The Wild Side of Life” that stayed as #1 for approximately 20 weeks. His band “The Brazos Valley Boys” was voted the top country and western band for 14 years in a row by Billboard. Hank was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989, and to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997.

• Hank Thompson has sold over 60 million records internationally
• Hank Thompson was the first Country Music show ever played in Las Vegas
• Hank Thompson’s legendary LIVE AT THE GOLDEN NUGGET album, released on Capitol, was the first Live Country Music record ever recorded.
• Hank Thompson was the first music act to receive a corporate tour sponsorship.
• The Hank Thompson Show was the first to record in high fidelity stereo, and the first to broadcast his television variety show in color.
• Hank’s band, The Brazos Valley Boys, were voted #1 Country Western Band for 14 years in a row.
• Hank Thompson and The Brazos Valley Boys were the first act to
  tour with a sound and lighting system. Hank put it together from his electronics experience at Princeton and the Navy.
• Hank Thompson’s huge hit, “The Wild Side of Life” paved the way for the first million selling career record for a female artist in music, with the answer song “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” by Kitty Wells. Hank Thompson’s music directly opened the floodgates for major women artists to claim a share of Country Music stardom.
• Hank was also a pilot who was the first country artist to fly himself to his gigs around the country.‍
• A highly educated man, Hank Thompson attended Princeton University when Albert Einstein headed the physics department there, and is probably the only country artist to have attended Princeton.