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19 Years Ago Today, Country Music Said Goodbye to Its “King of Western Swing” Just Five Days After His Retirement
Country singer-songwriter Hank Thompson died at his home in Keller, Texas, on 6 November 2007, aged 82, five days after retiring from singing. A leading figure in Western swing and honky-tonk, he blended the styles with a distinctive baritone and recorded hits across a career spanning six decades.
Thompson made his recording debut in 1946 and scored 30 US country top-ten singles. His 1952 recording of “The Wild Side of Life” spent 15 weeks at number one and inspired Kitty Wells’ response song “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”. He last performed publicly in Waco on 8 October 2007, cancelled his tour after being diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer, and entered hospice care; he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.
In short
- Hank Thompson died aged 82 in 2007, five days after retiring.
- He had 30 US country top-ten singles.
- His 1952 hit inspired Kitty Wells’ chart-topping response.