In 1943, while playing a club near Andalusia, Alabama, Hank met Audrey Mae Sheppard. Audrey had a two-year old daughter and was going through a divorce. She learned to play stand-up bass and joined the band from time to time. She became the band’s manager.

It was in 1946 that she accompanied Hank to Nashville to meet publisher Fred Rose. Rose and Roy Acuff were in partnership in a country music business in Nashville that would later become one of the biggest in the industry. Initially, Rose was interested in Hank only as a songwriter, asking him to write songs for Molly O’Day. At some point, within the year, Rose decided to give Hank a chance at recording and in time, took on Hank’s career personally. He scheduled Hank to record four songs for the Sterling label in December, 1946.

In March of 1947, Fred Rose was instrumental in arranging a contract between Hank and MGM. Hank then recorded Move It on Over, which became Hank’s first Billboard chart entry. In 1948, he made the charts again with Honky Tonkin. By this time, Hank’s old habits were again haunting him, even though he stood on the brink of great success, he would show up for performances intoxicated or not show up at all. His drinking had made him a person that his friends and fellow musicians didn’t want to be around. Finally, a frustrated Fred Rose gave up on him and then an equally frustrated Audrey filed for a divorce.

It seemed that Hank’s career was ending before he could reach his full potential. But, in time, Hank and Fred Rose mended their damaged association. Rose tried to get him on the Grand Ole Opry, but his reputation as a drunken no-show made them decide against having him. However, The Louisiana Hayride, a show that was broadcast from radio station KWKH in Shreveport, Louisiana, was interested in Hank; he joined them in August of 1947. At this time, Hank had a number 6 hit with I’m a Long Gone Daddy, but his next four releases didn’t make the charts. A later release, Mansion on the Hill almost reached the top ten.Being a regular on Louisiana Hayride meant that Hank’s music was heard in the homes of a much larger number of country music fans and for awhile, it appeared that Hank had overcome his problems.

In 1949, he released an old vaudeville tune, written by Rex Griffin, called, Lovesick Blues. Immediately, the song starting climbing the charts. With its success came an offer to appear on the Grand Ole Opry.

As he was introduced, the audience didn’t seem to recognize his name, but after the first bar of the song, Ryman Auditorium seemed to explode with applause! This continued through no less that six encores! He became the first person ever to accomplish this!

Following the release of Lovesick Blues, others were released, among them, Wedding Bells, Mind Your Own Business, You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave) and My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It. In 1949, Hank became the father of Randall Hank Williams, who would later achieve success in music.

In 1950, Hank began to record songs under another name, Luke the Drifter. It was under this assumed name that in 1951, he found great success with Cold, Cold Heart, a song that crossed over to other types of music. It was on the flip side of Dear John, another successful song for Hank. He continued to release hits through 1951 and 1952.

In 1951, Hank traveled to Los Angeles to sign an agreement with MGM to appear in movies, but the plan was never executed.

On December 13, 1951, he had surgery performed on his spine at the Vanderbilt University Hospital. The operation did little if anything to relieve the severe back pain that he was now experiencing. The tens of thousands of miles he had traveled and the number of performances he did had taken a serious toll on a spine that was already deformed. The remainder of his life would be spent in almost constant pain.

Hank’s problems were still very much with him and probably worsening by then. In spite of his successes, he moved back in with his mother in Montgomery for awhile. Then he moved to Nashville, where on May 29, 1952, he and Audrey were officially divorced. It was during this time that he met Bobbie Jett and Hank fathered a daughter, Jett. Hank never denied this and took full responsibility for the support of his daughter, though it wasn’t publicly known.

On August 11, 1952, he was fired from the Grand Ole Opry. He rejoined the Louisiana Hayride. At some point following his return to the Louisiana Hayride, the Drifting Cowboys decided to break away from Hank, citing his drinking problem as a cause.

On August 15, 1952, he bought a new, blue Cadillac convertible. At about this time, he rented a cabin at Camp Kaliga, located on Lake Martin, Alabama. There he spent a vacation with Billie Jean Jones Eshlimar, a lady from Bossier City, Louisiana. He had met her at the Grand Ole Opry earlier that year. It was in that cabin that he wrote the song Kawliga. Later, Hank was arrested for public intoxication at a hotel in nearby Alexander City, Alabama.