
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist. Nelson rose to fame in the 1970s as a pioneer of the outlaw country movement, wherein a handful of likeminded artists rejected the polished sound of Nashville in favor of a rawer, more personal style. Nelson’s breakthrough came with the albums Shotgun Willie (1973), Red Headed Stranger (1975), and Stardust (1978), which showcased his unique blend of country, folk, and jazz influences.
Nelson is beloved for songs like Crazy (made famous by Patsy Cline), Mamas Don’t let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys with Waylon Jennings, Pancho and Lefty with Merle Haggard, and On the Road Again, which won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song 1980. Nelson was also a part of The Highwaymen, a supergroup comprised of Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
Nelson remains a beloved and enduring figure in American culture by way of an acting career that includes countless film and television appearances, a steadfast advocacy for marijuana legalization, and having co-founded Farm Aid, a nonprofit supporting American farmers. Nelson appears in the documentary Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President, the film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and the series Willie Nelson & Family.
Latest Release
- MAY 29, 2026 Dream Chaser

A founder of modern country celebrates 93 years young—plus a Dylan co-write. Frankly, every album Willie Nelson has released after turning 80 is as much a celebration of Willie Nelson’s continued existence as the music itself. Some are outstanding (Last Man Standing, A Beautiful Time), and even the so-so ones are welcome opportunities to return to Nelson’s perennial moods and themes: time passes, feelings fade, and ain’t it all just a miracle still. Produced and largely co-written by Buddy Cannon, who has worked closely with Nelson since the 2010s, Dream Chaser is a mostly reflective, midtempo album with at least a few exceptional moments: “Developing My Pictures” (a wonderful song barely touched since George Jones sang it in the 1960s), the alcoholic’s surrender of “Fly Away,” and the Bob Dylan co-write “I Can’t Read Your Mind,” which opens with the obvious, genius “I don’t know how to read your mind/The letters are too small.” The 2020s have already been Nelson’s most productive album-making decade since the ’70s and ’80s, and it’s only halfway through. He’s just breathing.
Discover More
Willie Nelson on Apple Music
Willie Nelson on Apple TV
Willie Nelson on Apple Podcasts
About
- FROM
- Abbott, TX, United States
- BORN
- April 29, 1933
- GENRE
- Country