In a career that has encompassed performing, songwriting, acting and activism, there are so many highlights to consider when looking back at Willie Nelson 's life.
Here are 25 of our favorite things you might not know about the American icon. Because he was born close to midnight, some sources list Nelson's birth date as April Nelson was raised by his grandparents, Alfred and Nancy Nelson, who both studied music courses through the mail from the Chicago Music Institute.
His took to leading roles as a country music star in Honeysuckle Rose , which would include a number of his songs on the soundtrack. In the movie Red Headed Stranger , which was adapted from his hit album, he played a preacher, and he teamed up with pal Kris Kristofferson as a pair of country singers in Songwriter Willie and pal Kristofferson went on to form The Highwaymen with the late Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings and he successfully recorded and toured with the group for a number of years.
They also teamed up to remake the classic western Stagecoach as a TV movie Stagecoach As a unique song stylist, the bearded, braided-haired, bandanna-wearing non-conformist took a number of non-country standards and made them his own, including Elvis Presley 's "You Were Always on My Mind" and Ray Charles ' "Georgia on My Mind.
Sign In. Edit Willie Nelson. Showing all 52 items. In addition to being a successful country singer, he is also a songwriter and wrote hits for many other singers, including "Crazy" for Patsy Cline. He was a member of Ray Price 's Cherokee Cowboys during the s. Toby Keith asked if he wanted to record a duet with him. Willie agreed after simply hearing the title of the song without even reading the lyrics: "Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses". Is one of the three "outlaws" of country music, named because of their wild personalities, free spirits and liberal politics.
The other two are Merle Haggard and the late Waylon Jennings. When the IRS seized his possessions to sell at auction to try and collect money to pay his tax debt, many of Willie's fans bought his stuff and then gave it back to him. It's been said that the fans did this as a way of saying thank you for all the free concerts Nelson performed in support of Farm Aid. As soon as he was able, he went back to the bus. But when I ask about the state of his vocal cords, he is adamant his voice is as strong as ever.
I should acknowledge at this point that I regard Nelson as one of the great geniuses of popular music, a man whose contributions to the American songbook rank up there with those of Ray Charles or Nina Simone. I named my daughter, Louella Nelson, after him.
If nothing else, you are witnessing the twilight of a god. Nelson grew up during the Depression, in the tiny town of Abbott, Texas.
His mother, Myrle, left home six months after he was born and went off west to work as a dancer, waitress and card-dealer. His older sister, year-old Bobbie, the pianist in his band for the last 50 years, says Myrle is the person from whom Nelson inherited his restless gene. Willie and Bobbie were raised by their saintly-seeming paternal grandparents, Alfred and Nancy.
I learned a lot before I ever left the house. I learned about what I wanted to do. Nelson wrote his first song when he was seven, and at 10 began playing guitar in a polka band. His grandmother was troubled by his playing in night clubs. The values of the community in which he grew up were both conservative and surprisingly liberal, he says. People sometimes express wonder at the fact that a man with such progressive views on LGBT rights, drug laws and so on should be considered a national treasure, but the truth is, most of his positions speak to a fundamental American principle about personal freedom and the right to be left alone.
Another reason his politics have not got in the way of his popularity is that he rarely proselytises. I never talk about politics on stage. When I ask if he ever argued with Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash about their conservative views, he shakes his head impatiently. Everybody has a right to be what they want to be and say what they want to say. Despite such difficulties, Nelson persevered, and several of his albums, including Across the Borderline and Healing Hands of Time , reached the country Top The law caught up with him again in when he was arrested for marijuana possession in Texas, with the case eventually being thrown out.
In , Nelson worked with producer Daniel Lanois on the album Teatro. The album is noted for its sparse yet strong rhythmic percussion. Nelson continued to tour heavily, often playing as many as to dates a year, while maintaining his prolific songwriting output.
Among the highlights from this period are The Great Divide and Countryman , which incorporated elements of reggae. In , Nelson released Moment of Forever , which garnered much critical praise. Nelson also continued to collaborate with a range of recording artists. In , he performed live in Amsterdam with rap icon Snoop Dogg , and the duo went on to work together on the video for "My Medicine.
After signing a new record deal with Legacy Recordings, in Nelson released the album Heroes , which featured appearances by Merle Haggard , Snoop, Kristofferson and Sheryl Crow , among others. It reached No. Shortly before his 81st birthday in , Nelson also showed that he was still in top physical form, earning his fifth-degree black belt in the martial art GongKwon Yusul.
Still going strong, the country legend released God's Problem Child in April , and one year later followed with Last Man Standing , his 67th studio album. In , Nelson started marketing his own brand of green fuel, BioWillie, a combination of diesel and biodiesel made from soybeans. It pushed me in the right direction. It pushed me in a positive direction. It kept my head in my music. It kept my head filled with poetry. They happily shared the bounty from their home gardens and local communities.
Willie happily returned the favor. In , Nelson married for the first time, to Martha Matthews, with whom he had three children — Lana, Susie and Billy — before they split up a decade later. He followed by marrying singer Shirley Collie in and then Connie Koepke in , with whom he had daughters Paula and Amy. I say it to be truthful. Nelson and Connie divorced in and he married D'Angelo in They have two sons, Lucas and Jacob Micah, and live in a sustainable solar-powered community in Hawaii, on the island of Maui.
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