This will was first printed as "My Last Will" by Joe Hill in the Salt Lake City Herald-Republican after Hill's execution. Hill was a Swedish singer and guitar player affiliated with the IWW. He was executed in Salt Lake City by the Sugar House firing squad after being found guilty for a murder for which he was framed. This charge was probably punishment for his organizing.

Hill is a prominent character in Howard Zinn's People's History narratives. Steve Earl--of a folk tradition including Townes van Zandt's Texas and David Simon's Baltimore--recited the will for a Zinn project in 2006.

Hill's most visible legacy might be "Joe Hill" written by Alfred Hayes and composed by Earl Robinson in 1936. Paul Robeson sang this song at union meetings when it was new. Joan Baez performed the song at Woodstock. In 1990, Billy Bragg adapted the song to "I Dreamed I saw Phil Ochs Last Night." Ochs, legendary 60's singer, recorded "Joe Hill" on Tape from California in 1968 and played it live on Amchitka at the launch of Greenpeace in 1970. Bob Dylan's "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" from John Wesley Harding (1967) is based on "Joe Hill." Springsteen performs "Joe Hill" with the E Street Band.

Every generation of American labor singer since is in Hill's proximity within this dissenting tradition. Most, with the notable exception of Woody Guthrie and his "This Machine Kills Fascists" guitar, have recorded and released "Joe Hill."

The lyrics to "Joe Hill's Last Will" were finished without a tune but Hill wrote them with obvious meter.