On 14 August 1946, Hank Williams auditioned for the Grand Ole Opry at the urging of his friend Ernest Tubb but was turned down, an event that ultimately steered him towards the Louisiana Hayride and, indirectly, a record deal. Though he was already gigging around Alabama, Georgia and Florida and had published a songbook of original songs, he remained largely unknown, which likely explains the rejection. The episode matters because the chance encounter it prompted set in motion the chain of events that launched his recording career and, eventually, country music stardom.

After being rejected, Williams and his wife/manager Audrey approached publisher Fred Rose, who signed him to a publishing deal and helped secure a contract with Sterling Records; he later moved to MGM, scoring his first hit with "Move It on Over". In 1948 he joined the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport, and by 1949 his chart success led to a successful second Opry audition, culminating in a celebrated debut performance of "Lovesick Blues" that June, complete with six encores. He became an Opry member and toured Europe with the show, but was fired in August 1952 for his drinking, returning to the Louisiana Hayride shortly before his death less than a year later.