Willie Nelson
#
51
Ranking
Hall of Famer
BIRTHDATE
BIRTHPLACE
Abbott
,
TX
,
USA
93
5
'
6
"
Willie Nelson is a 93-year-old Abbott, Texas-born outlaw country pioneer who went from writing "Crazy" for Patsy Cline in Nashville to recording 79 solo studio albums, co-founding Farm Aid, and headlining his own Outlaw Music Festival each summer, cementing his place as one of the most enduring and beloved figures in American music history.
Current Tour & Setlist
Willie Nelson headlines the 2026 Outlaw Music Festival Tour, a 12-date run kicking off July 3 at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas, wrapping through his legendary Fourth of July Picnic in Austin on July 4 featuring Billy Strings and Wilco, and then an August swing through the Midwest and Northeast hitting Maryland Heights, Shakopee, East Troy, Clarkston, Noblesville, Tinley Park, Wantagh, Bethel, and Saratoga Springs before closing August 30. The rotating supporting lineup includes the Avett Brothers on nine dates, Sheryl Crow on six dates, Lukas Nelson on eight dates, and additional appearances from Margo Price, Stephen Wilson Jr., Sierra Hull, Robert Randolph, and Rodney Crowell.
Early Life
Born Willie Hugh Nelson on April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas, during the Great Depression, he and his older sister Bobbie were abandoned by both parents as infants and raised by their paternal grandparents, devout Methodist church-goers and devoted amateur musicians who gave Willie his first guitar at age six and taught Bobbie to play piano. He wrote his first song at age seven following the death of his grandfather, joined his first band at 13 playing honky-tonks alongside his sister, absorbed a wide-ranging blend of gospel, country, blues, polka, and local Mexican music growing up in Central Texas, and later served in the U.S. Air Force before briefly studying agriculture at Baylor University.
Career Highlights
After years of working odd jobs including disc jockey stints, selling encyclopedias, and teaching Sunday school, Nelson moved to Nashville in 1960 and broke through as a songwriter, penning "Crazy" for Patsy Cline and "Hello Walls" for Faron Young, though his own recordings struggled to find an audience with Nashville's polished production style. Frustrated with the Nashville system, he moved to Austin in the early 1970s and became a founding figure of the outlaw country movement alongside Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Kris Kristofferson, releasing the landmark albums Shotgun Willie (1973) and Red Headed Stranger (1975) that redefined the genre. Now 93 years old, Nelson has released 79 solo studio albums, co-founded the annual Farm Aid benefit concert in 1985 alongside Neil Young and John Mellencamp, hosted the legendary Fourth of July Picnic since 1973, and stands as one of the most recorded and performed artists in American music history.
Family & Personal Life
Nelson has been married four times: to Martha Matthews (1952 to 1962), with whom he had three children including Lana, Susie, and Billy, who died by suicide in 1991; to singer Shirley Collie (1963 to 1971); and to Connie Koepke (1971 to 1988), with whom he had daughters Paula and Amy, both of whom became musicians and frequently perform with their father. His fourth and current marriage, to makeup artist Annie D'Angelo in 1991, has been his longest and most stable, producing sons Lukas Nelson (born 1988) and Micah Nelson (born 1990), both of whom are musicians who perform and record with Willie regularly; his famous older sister Bobbie Nelson, the pianist in his touring band for decades, passed away in March 2022 at age 91.
Awards
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