According to the New York Times, "Hank Thompson, [was] a sequined singer and songwriter who fused jazz inflected Western swing and hard-edged honky-tonk to
produce seven decades of musical musings, seasoned with sly humor, on loving,
drinking and dying."

Cheyenne Frontier Days has a reputation for attracting
the best and brightest from the entertainment industry, especially when it comes to musicians. Among CFD's illustrious acts in 1953 were the Jan Garber orchestra and
Hank "The King of Western Swing"Thompson with his Brazos Valley Boys band.

Born on Sept. 3, 1925, Thompson received his first guitar at 10 years old. As a teen in Waco, Texas, Thompson's talent show aptitude won him a time slot at the local radio station as "Hank the Hired Hand."

In 1943, Thompson joined the U.S. Navy as a radio operator, which he planned to turn into a career after his discharge in 1946.

Thompson started his solo singer and guitarist career with a 15-minute radio slot during the noon hour at KWTX in Waco, Tex.

His official website, hankthompson.com, said he had 59 Billboard top 40 hits from 1948-1980. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.

CFD rodeo announcer and fellow CFD Hall of Farner, Tommy"T.V."Jones said he met Thompson during the Colorado State University Skyline Rodeo in 1955. "We got to talking about hunting and that hit it off," Jones said. "He had an air about him that
was magnetic. He connected with his audience."

In 1962, Thompson crowned April Belecky Miss Frontier on the back of a flatbed in front of the building now known as the CFD Old West Museum. Later, April married Jones, and the couple often visited Thompson's getaway near Tenkiller Ferry Lake, Okla.

Also in 1962, Thompson brought Roy Clark, host of the television show "Hee Haw," and Merle Travis, fellow Country Music Hall of Farner, to record a live album at CFD, Jones said.

"He probably appeared as much or more than any other artists at Frontier Days," Jones said. "We sold a lot of his tickets."
Thompson found easy popularity with his charismatic attitude, honest and sincere nature and his "man's man''way of life,Jones said. He added Thompson was an avid outdoorsman, who enjoyed hunting,and once shot at a competition in Saratoga, Wyo., on a team with Jones and Johnny Western of the Western Music Association Hall of Fame and Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame.

"Thompson always had time to sit down and have a drink with the CFD committees," Jones said, explaining the musician's outgoing and humble attitude.

Thompson performed at CFD for nearly four decades before retiring from the touring life and settling down with his wife, Ann, near Fort Worth, Texas.

In 2007, 82-year-old Thompson died at his home. "He was born a Texan, and he died a Texan," Jones said.