Hank Snow Biography | Country Singer and Songwriter

Clarence Eugene “Hank” Snow

Born: May 9, 1914
Died: December 20, 1999
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, Nova Scotia

Major Notes:

Hank Snow is considered one of Canada's foremost country and western music stars.
As a pre-teen, he lived a hard life, close to poverty at times, and was witness to his parents' divorce.
Snow was left with his grandparents and it turned out that his grandmother was abusive and forbid him to visit his mother.
He lived in a small village and, at age 12, left home by running away on a fishing schooner.
After a few months working on the ship, someone brought out a guitar and Snow joined in singing songs.
It was s significant re-introduction to a music instrument that was going to serve him well in improving his life.
Snow's parents had both had musical talent and he had learned some respect for the guitar from watching his mother play.
When he had time and money, Snow invested in a $5.95 guitar and returned to the ship intent on learning to play it.
Snow had time on board to learn to practise on the guitar and he started to write and sing his own songs.
When the schooner was involved in a ship wreck where Hank Snow nearly lost his life, he left the sea and became a lumberjack.
In 1933, he was able to get a job at a Halifax radio station and performed under the name "The Singing Ranger".
By 1936, he had made a recording for RCA and had become a country music star in Canada yet only just surviving.
He wanted to expand his talent to the United States but had considerable difficulty in getting accepted.
After going to the States on two occasions to try to break into the market, Hank Snow came back nearly broke each time.
His record company released some of his 90 songs into the USA where they began to make some impact but only in a few regions.
Fortunately, he met one of America's great western stars, Ernest Tubb, who felt Snow had considerable talent.
Tubb was able to get Snow an opportunity to play on the Grand Ole Opry but with limited acceptance.
It was only after Snow's "I'm Moving On" became an international hit that Snow was made into an Opry regular.
In 1954, Snow used a young singer named Elvis Presley as his opening act and was one of the first to recognize Presley's talent.
More than any other male singer, Snow pioneered the country music style of his era.
Hank Snow received many awards and has been inducted into several "Fame" institutions including the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

For detailed research and more information, check out any of the following:

IMDb World Socialist Web Site Country Music Hall of Fame CMT The Canadian Encyclopedia Country Politan

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Major Notes:

Hank Snow is considered one of Canada's foremost country and western music stars.

As a pre-teen, he lived a hard life, close to poverty at times, and was witness to his parents' divorce.

Snow was left with his grandparents and it turned out that his grandmother was abusive and forbid him to visit his mother.

He lived in a small village and, at age 12, left home by running away on a fishing schooner.

After a few months working on the ship, someone brought out a guitar and Snow joined in singing songs.

It was s significant re-introduction to a music instrument that was going to serve him well in improving his life.

Snow's parents had both had musical talent and he had learned some respect for the guitar from watching his mother play.

When he had time and money, Snow invested in a $5.95 guitar and returned to the ship intent on learning to play it.

Snow had time on board to learn to practise on the guitar and he started to write and sing his own songs.

When the schooner was involved in a ship wreck where Hank Snow nearly lost his life, he left the sea and became a lumberjack.

In 1933, he was able to get a job at a Halifax radio station and performed under the name "The Singing Ranger".

By 1936, he had made a recording for RCA and had become a country music star in Canada yet only just surviving.

He wanted to expand his talent to the United States but had considerable difficulty in getting accepted.

After going to the States on two occasions to try to break into the market, Hank Snow came back nearly broke each time.

His record company released some of his 90 songs into the USA where they began to make some impact but only in a few regions.

Fortunately, he met one of America's great western stars, Ernest Tubb, who felt Snow had considerable talent.

Tubb was able to get Snow an opportunity to play on the Grand Ole Opry but with limited acceptance.

It was only after Snow's "I'm Moving On" became an international hit that Snow was made into an Opry regular.

In 1954, Snow used a young singer named Elvis Presley as his opening act and was one of the first to recognize Presley's talent.

More than any other male singer, Snow pioneered the country music style of his era.

Hank Snow received many awards and has been inducted into several "Fame" institutions including the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.