Most Awesome Pulitzer Prize of the Year

SPECIAL CITATION: Country music pioneer Hank Williams

Williams "expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity" and transformed country music into a major musical and cultural force in America, The Pulitzer board said.

The board said it awarded the late singer for his lifetime achievement after a confidential survey of experts in popular music.

Williams died Jan. 1, 1953, at the age of 29, cutting short a career that changed country music. Hits such as "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Cold, Cold Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" have been covered by hundreds of musicians, and more than 55 years after his death, he remains a central figure in country music.

Source: Associated Press