Willie Nelson – Last Leaf

Description

In 2024, Nelson was featured in the “Smoke Hour ★ Willie Nelson” and “Smoke Hour II” interludes of Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter album, the second album in her trilogy project.^[120] With the death of Kris Kristofferson in September 2024, Nelson became the last surviving member of The Highwaymen.

Nelson is widely recognized as an American icon.^[213][160] He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993,^[214] and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.^[215] In 2011, Nelson was inducted to the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, for his labor in Farm Aid and other fund raisers to benefit farmers.^[216] In 2015 Nelson won the Gershwin Prize, the lifetime award of the Library of Congress.^[217] In 2018, The Texas Institute of Letters inducted him among its members for his songwriting.^[218] He was included by Rolling Stone on its 100 Greatest Singers and 100 Greatest Guitarists lists.^[219][220]

In 2003, Texas Governor Perry signed bill No. 2582, introduced by State Representative Elizabeth Ames Jones and Senator Jeff Wentworth, which funded the Texas Music Project, the state’s official music charity. Nelson was named honorary chairman of the advisory board of the project.^[221] In 2005, Democratic Texas Senator Gonzalo Barrientos introduced a bill to name 49 miles (79 km) of the Travis County section of State Highway 130 after Nelson, and at one point 23 of the 31 state senators were co-sponsors of the bill.^[222] The legislation was dropped after two Republican senators, Florence Shapiro and Wentworth, objected, citing Nelson’s lack of connection to the highway, his fund raisers for Democrats, his drinking, and his marijuana advocacy.^[223]

An important collection of Willie Nelson materials (1975–1994) became part of the Wittliff collections of Southwestern Writers, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas. The collection contains lyrics, screenplays, letters, concert programs, tour itineraries, posters, articles, clippings, personal effects, promotional items, souvenirs, and documents. It documents Nelson’s IRS troubles and how Farm Aid contributions were used. Most of the material was collected by Nelson’s friend Bill Wittliff, who wrote or co-wrote Honeysuckle Rose, Barbarosa and Red Headed Stranger.^[224] In 2014, Nelson donated his personal collection to the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. The items include photographs, correspondence, song manuscripts, posters, certificate records, awards, signed books, screenplays, personal items and gifts and tributes from Nelson’s fans.^[225]

In April 2010, Nelson received the “Feed the Peace” award from The Nobelity Project for his extensive work with Farm Aid and overall contributions to world peace. On June 23, 2010, he was inducted into the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.^[226] Nelson is an honorary trustee of the Dayton International Peace Museum.^[227] In 2010, Austin, Texas renamed Second Street to Willie Nelson Boulevard. The city also unveiled a life-size statue to honor him, placed at the entrance of Austin City Limits’ new studio.^[228] The non-profit organization Capital Area Statues commissioned sculptor Clete Shields to execute the project.^[229] The statue was unveiled on April 20, 2012.^[230] The date selected by the city of Austin unintentionally coincided with the number 4/20, associated with cannabis culture. In spite of the coincidence and Nelson’s advocacy for the legalization of marijuana, the ceremony was scheduled also for 4:20 pm. During the ceremony, Nelson performed the song “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die“.^[231] The same year, Nelson was honored during the 46th Annual Country Music Association Awards as the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was also named after him.^[232] In 2013, he received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music.^[233] The following year, he was part of the inaugural class inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. Also included among the first inductees was his friend Darrell Royal, whose jamming parties that Nelson participated in were the source of inspiration for the show.^[234]

For many years, Nelson’s image was marked by his red hair, often divided into two long braids partially concealed under a bandanna. In the April 2007 issue of Stuff Magazine Nelson was interviewed about his long locks.^[235] “I started braiding my hair when it started getting too long, and that was, I don’t know, probably in the 70’s.” On May 26, 2010, the Associated Press reported that Nelson had cut his hair,^[236] and Nashville music journalist Jimmy Carter published a photograph of the pigtail-free Nelson on his website. Nelson wanted a more maintainable hairstyle, as well helping him stay cool more easily at his Maui home.^[237] In October 2014, the braids of Nelson were sold for $37,000 at an auction of the Waylon Jennings estate. In 1983, Nelson cut his braids and gave them to Jennings as a gift during a party celebrating Jennings’ sobriety.^[238]

Nelson’s touring and recording group, the Family, is full of longstanding members. The original lineup included his sister Bobbie Nelson, drummer Paul English, harmonicist Mickey Raphael, bassist Bee Spears, drummer/percussionist Billy English (Paul’s younger brother), and guitarist Jody Payne.^[239] The current lineup only includes Nelson himself, Raphael, and Billy English from the classic lineup, as Jody Payne retired (before dying in 2013), Bee Spears died in 2011, Paul English died in 2020, and Willie’s sister Bobbie Nelson died in 2022.^[240] Willie & Family tours North America in the bio-diesel bus Honeysuckle Rose, which is fueled by Bio-Willie.^[241] Nelson’s tour buses were customized by Florida Coach since 1979. The company built the Honeysuckle Rose I in 1983, which was replaced after a collision in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1990. The interior was salvaged and reused for the second version of the bus the same year. Nelson changed his tour bus in 1996, 2005 and 2013, currently touring on the Honeysuckle Rose V.^[242]

Solo studio albums