Biography:

Jett Williams, daughter of the legendary Hank Williams, was born in Montgomery, Alabama, five days after her father died on his way to Canton, Ohio, where he was to perform on New Year's Day, 1953. Relinquished by her natural mother, Bobbie Jett of Nashville, the infant was taken from the hospital where she was born into the home of Hank's mother, Lillian, who adopted her. Lillian, who started her lengthy adoption process within days of Hank's funeral, completed the adoption in December of 1954.

Unfortunately, she was dead within two months and the Williams family no longer wanted the infant, whom Lillian had named Cathy Yvonne (for the "Yvonne" in "Jambalaya"). The Williams family made Jett a ward of the State of Alabama and she was relocated to a foster home in Pine Level, Alabama, at the age of three. Subsequently adopted again by a family in Mobile, Alabama, Jett was raised there and attended the University of Alabama. During her youth, Jett had no idea who her natural parents were -- let alone that her daddy was Hank Williams, but from a very young age she demonstrated an unusual and natural talent for music, singing, and her guitar. In the early 1980's, at the urging of her adoptive father and armed with a few facts and a little rumor, Jett set out to learn what she could about who she was and what had happened to her. After years of futile effort, fortune smiled and Jett got proof-positive that Hank Williams was her father. Not only was he her father, he had made all provisions for her and her well being. In fact, three months before Jett was born, Hank had prepared and executed a notarized pre-birth custody agreement giving him full custody of his as yet unborn daughter. The rest is history, and is documented in the files of the Alabama State Court and in the scores of newspaper and feature magazine articles written about Jett and her saga. Jett Williams was declared by court order dated October 26, 1987, to be the biological daughter of Hank Williams. On June 5, 1989, the Supreme Court of the State of Alabama, reversing a lower court ruling, found that Jett, since birth, had been the victim of fraud and judicial error in that her identity was concealed from her for financial gain. The Supreme Court declared all prior orders in the Estate of Hank Williams to be null and void, since procured by fraud on the court, and reopened Hank's estate, making Jett Williams a legal heir, entitled to one-half the estate proceeds. Her autobiography, entitled "Ain't Nothin' as Sweet as My Baby," chronicles the saga of her struggle (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990). Subsequent to the publication of her autobiography, the federal courts awarded Jett her proportionate share of her father's copyright renewal royalties Since the story of Jett's existence first surfaced in 1985, she has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Inside Report, Inside Edition, Current Affair, Entertainment Tonight, Crook & Chase, Country Notes, Sonya Live, PM Magazine, and scores of other national and regional broadcasts. In most instances, such as Current Affair, Entertainment Tonight, and Sonya Live, to name but a few, Jett has been featured in several different occasions. Additionally, she has been the subject of feature articles in scores of publications, including People Magazine, The Washington Post Magazine, USA Today, Atlanta Constitution, New York Times, Southern Magazine, Dallas Times Herald, NY Daily News, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, AP Feature, Baltimore Sun, LA Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Providence Journal Bulletin, Birmingham Post Herald, South Bend Tribune, Ottawa Citizen, and Boston Herald. Jett had a number of names and a number of homes in her early youth. In fact, every time she changed homes, someone changed her name. Somethings, however, were constant in Jett's first years, and all things were recorded by the various social workers charged with accounting for the activities of their most famous "ward." One "constant," according to the records, was Jett and her guitar. Starting with her first two years, spent with her grandmother -- Hank's mother -- Jett always had a guitar. And according to her peers in later years, she was always the hit of the party by singing and playing. Jett says she liked to sing until she made them cry.

On June 4, 1989, Jett made her professional singing debut to a standing ovation at the annual memorial celebration in honor of her father in Evergreen, Alabama. Adding to her memories of this unforgettable day, Jett also met for the first time Jerry Rivers and Don Helms, the fiddle and steel guitar players on Hank Williams' records she had treasured all her life, and the only still-active members of her dad's old band, The Drifting Cowboys. The meeting was to figure heavily in Jett Williams' future career. Within weeks, Jett had a band -- she had The Drifting Cowboys. They had a booking agent. And she, Jerry, and Don were ready to take to the road. History was being made, and all involved felt it. Jett Williams made her first paid professional appearance in October, 1989, in her old home town of Mobile, Alabama, with her father's old friends and musicians on stage with her. She performed to another standing ovation and got her first review: "Jett Williams woos, wows in debut with the Drifting Cowboys." Since that fateful night, Jett and the Drifting Cowboys have put on hundreds of shows all around the country. She has been on stage with Marty Stuart, Doug Stone, Kitty Wells, Hank Thompson, Mark Chestnut, Steve Wariner, Pam Tillis, the Bellamy Brothers, Highway 101, Hal Ketchum, Deborah Allen, Shelby Lynn, Jimmy Dickens, Grandpa Jones, Boxcar Willie, Aaron Tippin, Michelle Wright, and scores of others. And she has performed from Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. to the Aspecta in Kumamoto, Japan. She keeps on getting standing ovations and she continues to be blessed with glowing reviews. In fact, one of the high points in her career to date was being tapped by George Jones to join him on stage where he was appearing with Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty. She received a standing ovation when she got on stage and, more importantly, she got one when she left. If that wasn't heady enough for a young lady then relatively new to the tour circuit, the Pensacola News Journal reviews the show, saying: "And Jones did pull off the evening's biggest surprise, bringing on the stage Jett Williams... Williams sang "Your Cheatin' Heart," and "Hey Good Lookin'" with enough power and emotional to prove, if nothing else, that if talent is hereditary, then she's surely her daddy's girl."

Fans say there is magic when Jett is on stage, and watching her perform is as close as you can get to Hank coming back from Heaven and putting on a show himself. Jett feels blessed. Not only did she find out who she is, she found out that her father wanted her. Hank Williams did not sign her away; he signed her to him. He just did not count on dying at 29. His mother, Lillian, tried to fulfill his wishes, and thought she had. She didn't count on dying, either. But, according to Jett, things have a way of working out and, in this great country, you can stand up for what you believe in; you can succeed in righting a wrong. You can prevail. She has, and she feels she has a lot to be thankful for and a lot to give back. To the latter end, she has made it a point to devote what little free time she has to certain causes important to her and to others. For four years, she served as Chairperson of Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) Center for Therapeutic Riding, benefiting handicapped children, quintupling the success of their fund raising efforts during her tenure. Several years ago, she was tapped by the US Department of the Interior to focus national attention upon the Administration's Take Pride in America program. Jett was first called to entertain, with Paul Overstreet, at the Take Pride in America awards ceremony at Constitution Hall in July, 1991. Joining Linda Evans, Jett worked with the Office of the Secretary of Interior to develop an enhanced national awareness of this important program. The rights to Jett's life story have been acquired by NBC. Her saga is being developed into an event movie of the week and is being produced by Bernard Schwartz, who produced Coal Miner's Daughter and Sweet Dreams. Jett made her debut on The Grand Ole Opry on New Year's Eve, 1993, the anniversary of her dad's death. Jett Williams and her husband, Keith Adkinson, split their time between Washington, D.C., aboard her ship, "The Jett Stream," and a one-hundred acre farm outside Nashville, Tennessee. Keith has been Jett's attorney since 1984, and he is also her manager.