Legendary Songwriter Hank Thompson Dies At Age 82

Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Hank Thompson Official Website) - As it states on his official website, "There's a new star in Heaven", this one just happens to be the King of Western Swing, Hank Thompson.
At his request there will not be a funeral but rather a celebration of his life, all of his friends and fans are invited. The event will be held at Billy Bob's Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Ft Worth, Texas on November 14th from 2:00PM until it's over.

Thompson's wife Ann has requested that, in lieu of flowers, a donation in Hank's name be made to The Heart of Texas Country Music Museum, 1701 Bridge St, Brady, TX 76825, or your favorite charity.

Henry "Hank" William Thompson (September 3, 1925 in Waco, Texas - November 6, 2007) was country music entertainer whose career spanned seven decades. He sold over 60 million records worldwide.

Thompson's musical style, characterized as Honky Tonk Swing, was a mixture of big-band instrumentation, fiddle and steel guitar that featured his distinctive, gravelly baritone vocals. His backing band, The Brazos Valley Boys, was voted the No.1 Country Western Band for 14 years in a row by Billboard Magazine.
He decided to pursue his musical talent after serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a radioman and studying electrical engineering at the university level. His first single was "Whoa Sailor" in 1946. The year 1952 brought his first #1 disc, "The Wild Side of Life", which contained the memorable line "I didn't know God made honky-tonk angels" (which inspired the Kitty Wells answer song, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"). Other hits followed in quick succession in the 1950s and 1960s. Although not as prominent in later decades, he has remained an active and respected performer in the field, finding new audiences as a result of the resurgence of a harder-edged sound in country music.
Hank Thompson was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1997.
On November 1, 2007 Hank Thompson canceled the rest of his 2007 tour and retired from for singing, two days after being released from a Texas hospital and diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer He went into hospice care in Ft. Worth, TX. Thompson's last performance was on October 8th in Waco, Texas, his birthplace.