48 Fun Facts About Willie Nelson

In which small Texas town was Willie Nelson born in 1933?

Willie Nelson was born in Abbott, a small farming town in Hill County, Texas, on April 29, 1933, and was raised there by his grandparents after his parents left.

At what age did Willie Nelson write his first song?

Willie Nelson wrote his first song at age seven, a year after his grandfather bought him a guitar and taught him a few chords; by nine he was playing in a local polka band.

Which Willie Nelson composition became Patsy Cline's signature hit in 1961?

Nelson wrote 'Crazy' in under an hour under the working title 'Stupid'; Patsy Cline, bruised from a recent car crash, recorded her 1961 vocal in a single take.

Which singer had a 1961 hit with the Willie Nelson song 'Hello Walls'?

Faron Young's recording of 'Hello Walls' spent nine weeks at number one on the country chart in 1961 and crossed over into the pop top 20.

Which branch of the US military did Willie Nelson join after high school, before a medical discharge?

Willie Nelson joined the US Air Force in 1950, the year he finished high school, and persistent back problems brought him a medical discharge within a year.

To which city did Willie Nelson move in 1972, where the hippie music scene rejuvenated his career?

Nelson settled in Austin in 1972, where the long-haired crowd at the Armadillo World Headquarters embraced him and helped make him the face of outlaw country.

What was the title of Willie Nelson's 1973 debut album for Atlantic Records?

Shotgun Willie, cut at Atlantic Studios in New York early in 1973, was Nelson's first album for the label and opened the looser, funkier sound of his 1970s work.

Roughly how much did it cost to record the 1975 concept album Red Headed Stranger?

Nelson recorded Red Headed Stranger at Autumn Sound Studios in Garland, Texas, for about $20,000, so sparse that Columbia executives mistook the finished album for a demo.

What crime is the fugitive of Red Headed Stranger on the run for?

The album's preacher is on the run for killing his wife and her lover, drifting across the West as a fugitive; Nelson played the Stranger himself in a 1986 film version.

Which Fred Rose song from Red Headed Stranger gave Willie Nelson his first number one hit as a singer?

'Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain', written by Fred Rose in 1945, topped the country chart in 1975 as Nelson's first number one single and won him his first Grammy.

Who produced Stardust, Willie Nelson's 1978 album of pop standards?

Booker T. Jones, Nelson's neighbour in Malibu and the leader of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, produced and arranged Stardust, an album Columbia feared would end Nelson's career.

For how many weeks did Stardust stay on Billboard's country albums chart?

Stardust stayed on Billboard's country albums chart for 540 weeks, a full decade from 1978 to 1988, and 'Georgia on My Mind' from the album won Nelson a 1979 Grammy.

Willie Nelson wrote 'On the Road Again' for which 1980 film he starred in?

Nelson wrote 'On the Road Again' for Honeysuckle Rose, the 1980 film in which he played a touring country singer; the song earned an Oscar nomination and the Grammy for Best Country Song.

On what did Willie Nelson famously scribble the lyrics to 'On the Road Again'?

Nelson jotted the lyrics of 'On the Road Again' on a barf bag from the seat pocket during a flight, after a film producer asked him for a song about life on tour.

Willie Nelson's 1982 hit 'Always on My Mind' peaked at what position on the Billboard Hot 100?

'Always on My Mind' peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, after earlier versions by Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley, and won Nelson a Grammy for his vocal.

With which Spanish crooner did Willie Nelson record 'To All the Girls I've Loved Before'?

Julio Iglesias and Nelson recorded 'To All the Girls I've Loved Before' in 1984; the duet topped the country chart, crossed into the pop top ten and won them the CMA's Vocal Duo of the Year award.

Which song, written by Johnny Bush, became Willie Nelson's traditional concert opener?

'Whiskey River', written by Johnny Bush, who had a country hit with it in 1972, became the song Nelson used to open his concerts for decades.

Who wrote 'Highwayman', the number one single that gave Willie Nelson's supergroup its name?

The group also covered Guy Clark's 'Desperados Waiting for a Train' and released three albums between 1985 and 1995.

With which two musicians did Willie Nelson found Farm Aid in 1985?

Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young organised the first Farm Aid in 1985 after Bob Dylan remarked at Live Aid that some of the money should go to American family farmers.

In which city was the first Farm Aid concert held on September 22, 1985?

The first Farm Aid took place at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, home of the University of Illinois; about 80,000 people attended and the show raised over $9 million.

How much did the IRS claim Willie Nelson owed when it seized his assets in 1990?

In 1990 the IRS said Nelson owed $32 million in back taxes, penalties and interest, largely because tax shelters set up by his accountants were disallowed, and seized his ranch and other property.

What was the subtitle of The IRS Tapes, the 1992 album Willie Nelson released to pay off his tax debt?

The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? was a stripped-down double album of Nelson alone with his guitar, sold first by telephone order, with the proceeds going to the IRS.

What is the name of Willie Nelson's famously battered nylon-string guitar?

Nelson named the guitar Trigger; bought unseen to replace a Baldwin a drunk had stepped on, its top bears a hole worn by decades of picking and dozens of carved signatures.

Which company built Willie Nelson's famous nylon-string guitar?

The guitar is a Martin N-20 classical model with a Brazilian rosewood body and Sitka spruce top; decades of pick strokes have worn a hole through the top near the bridge.

Which musician was the first to carve his signature into the top of Nelson's famous guitar?

Leon Russell was the first to sign the guitar, after asking Nelson to sign his, and suggested scratching names in rather than inking them so they would last; over 100 signatures followed.

What did Willie Nelson vow to do if the IRS ever auctioned off his beloved guitar?

Nelson said that if the guitar ever went, he would quit performing; before the IRS raid his daughter Lana spirited it away and it stayed hidden until the tax debt was settled.

In which state was Willie Nelson's Ridgetop ranch, which burned down in December 1970?

The ranch was in Ridgetop, Tennessee, north of Nashville; after the December 1970 fire Nelson drifted out of the Nashville orbit and within two years had resettled in Texas.

What product did Willie Nelson's company Bio-Willie, formed in 2005, market to truck stops?

BioWillie sold biodiesel fuel, a blend made partly from vegetable oil, at truck stops, pitched by Nelson as a way for truckers to support American farmers while cutting emissions.

What is the name of the cannabis brand Nelson announced in 2015?

Willie's Reserve, announced in 2015, sold Nelson-branded cannabis in states such as Colorado and Washington where recreational marijuana was legal.

In which year was Willie Nelson inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame?

Willie Nelson entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, the year he turned 60, and later added the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998 and the Gershwin Prize in 2015.

In 2023, at the age of 90, Willie Nelson was inducted into which institution?

Willie Nelson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2023, with Dave Matthews presenting him, in a class that also included Missy Elliott and Sheryl Crow.

Which record label signed Willie Nelson in 1964, under Chet Atkins, for $10,000 a year?

RCA Victor, whose Nashville operation Chet Atkins ran, signed Nelson in 1964; the polished Nashville Sound never suited him and he left the label in 1972 after a string of modest sellers.

In which country star's touring band did the young Willie Nelson play bass?

Ray Price hired Nelson as the bass player in his band, the Cherokee Cowboys, in 1961, after Nelson had signed with Pamper Music, the publishing company Price co-owned.

What was the title of Willie Nelson's 1962 debut album?

...And Then I Wrote, released by Liberty Records in 1962, collected Nelson's own versions of songs he had written for others, including 'Hello Walls' and 'Funny How Time Slips Away'.

Which singer did Willie Nelson often call his favourite, a model for his phrasing?

Frank Sinatra was the singer Nelson called his favourite, and he credited Sinatra's behind-the-beat phrasing as a model for his own; his 2018 album My Way was a Sinatra tribute.

How much did Willie Nelson pay for his famous nylon-string classical guitar in 1969?

Nelson paid $750 for the guitar in 1969, buying it sight unseen from Nashville repairman Shot Jackson, who offered it after declaring Nelson's damaged Baldwin beyond repair.

For which album did Willie Nelson win the 2023 Grammy for Best Country Album?

A Beautiful Time, released on Nelson's 89th birthday in April 2022, won the Grammy for Best Country Album at the February 2023 ceremony.

Which relative grew up with Willie Nelson and played piano in his band for decades?

His sister Bobbie, two years older, learned piano alongside him from their grandparents and played in his Family band from 1973 until her death in March 2022.

Nelson named his famous guitar after the horse of which singing cowboy?

Roy Rogers, the 'King of the Cowboys' in dozens of 1940s Westerns, rode a famous golden palomino; Nelson gave the guitar the horse's name because, he said, it was his horse.

His 1974 concept album Phases and Stages tells the two sides of what story?

Phases and Stages traces a couple's divorce, with side one sung from the woman's viewpoint and side two from the man's; its single 'Bloody Mary Morning' reached the country top 20.

Nelson performed in the 1974 pilot episode of which PBS music series?

Austin City Limits began with a 1974 pilot taped at the KLRN studio on the University of Texas campus, featuring Nelson; after a 1975 pledge-drive airing, PBS picked it up as a series in 1976.

Which 1976 compilation with Waylon Jennings became country music's first platinum album?

Wanted! The Outlaws, a compilation of tracks by Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser, became the first country album certified platinum by the RIAA, for a million copies sold.

How much did the struggling young Nelson sell the song 'Night Life' for?

Nelson sold 'Night Life' for $150 to Paul Buskirk, the Houston guitar teacher who employed him, after selling him 'Family Bible' for $50; Buskirk's name went onto the writing credit.

In 2014 Nelson earned a fifth-degree black belt in which Korean martial art?

Nelson received his fifth-degree black belt in GongKwon Yusul in April 2014, just before his 81st birthday, from his Texas master Sam Um, having trained on the road by sending videos for critique.

Which instrument has longtime Family band member Mickey Raphael played for Willie Nelson?

Mickey Raphael joined Nelson's band on harmonica in 1973 after meeting him at a jam session hosted by Texas football coach Darrell Royal, and stayed for more than 50 years.

Nelson's 2003 duet 'Beer for My Horses' topped the country chart for six weeks with which singer?

Toby Keith wrote 'Beer for My Horses' with Scotty Emerick and recorded it with Nelson; it spent six weeks atop the country chart in 2003 and inspired a 2008 film of the same name.

Nelson hosts the 'Smoke Hour' radio interludes on which 2024 album?

Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, her 2024 country-leaning album, casts Nelson as the DJ of a fictional station, KNTRY Radio Texas, in the 'Smoke Hour' interludes that introduce 'Texas Hold 'Em'.

Nelson sang Daniel Lanois's 'Cruel World' for the soundtrack of which 2018 video game?

Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar's 2018 Western, used Nelson's recording of 'Cruel World' on its soundtrack; Daniel Lanois produced the game's original songs and Josh Homme also cut a version.