According to Williams biographer Colin Escott, Williams says his first guitar was a gift from his mother Lilly when he was 8-years-old. Another biographer reports Lilly claims she paid $3.50 for the instrument, paying installments of 50 cents a month. The gift was meant to encourage Hank in his schoolwork. That plan appears to have backfired. Williams dropped out at age 16 to pursue music full-time.