![Whatever Happened To Country Music Legend Hawkshaw Hawkins?](https://townsquare.media/site/481/files/2014/08/518SOhKBX3L.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Whatever Happened To Country Music Legend Hawkshaw Hawkins?
Okay, let's get the obvious out of the way here at the start.
No, Hawkshaw was not his real name. Hawkshaw Hawkins was born Harold Franklin Hawkins in December 1921 in Huntington, West Virginia.
As a kid, after helping a neighbor track down 2 lost fishing rods, he was nicknamed 'Hawkshaw' after a famous comic strip of the day, 'Hawkshaw The Detective'.
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After serving in the military in World War II, Hawkins signed a contract with King Records in the late 1940s.
Hawkshaw became a member of the Grand Ole Opry and his biggest and most recognizable hit was 'Lonesome 77203'. He recorded it in 1962 and interestingly it first appeared on the national charts on March 2, 1963.
That was three days before his death.
Casual country music fans probably know that the legendary Patsy Cline was killed in a plane crash on March 5, 1963. What some folks may not know is that crash also took the life of country star Cowboy Copas and...country star Hawkshaw Hawkins, at the age of 41. Hawkins's wife, country music legend Jean Shepard, was pregnant at the time with the couple's second son.
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