Life Born in
Waco, Texas, United States, Thompson was interested in music from an early age, and won several amateur harmonica contests. He decided to pursue his musical talent after serving in the
United States Navy in
World War II as a radioman and studying electrical engineering at Princeton University before his discharge. He had intended to continue those studies on the
GI Bill following his 1946 discharge, and return to Waco. then joined
Warner Bros. Records, where he remained from 1966 through 1967. From 1968 through 1980, he recorded for
Dot Records and its successors, ABC Dot and
MCA Records. In 1997, Thompson released
Hank Thompson and Friends, a collection of solo tracks and duets with some of country music's most popular performers. In 2000, he released a new album,
Seven Decades, on the
Hightone label. The title reflected his recording history from the 1940s to 2000s. Thompson was elected to the
Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989, ==Discography==