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Willie Nelson
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Buy your Willie Nelson tickets here at VIPTickets.com.
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| | Date | | Venue | Show All Tickets | | | | | | Tuesday | Willie Nelson | Overture Center |  | | | | March 16,2010 | | Madison, WI | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Thursday | Willie Nelson | La Crosse Center | | | | | March 18,2010 | | La Crosse, WI | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Saturday | Willie Nelson | Fox Cities Performing Arts Center | | | | | March 20,2010 | | Appleton, WI | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Tuesday | Willie Nelson | Grand Theater - Wausau | | | | | March 23,2010 | | Wausau, WI | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Wednesday | Willie Nelson | Rialto Square Theater | | | | | March 24,2010 | | Joliet, IL | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Friday | Willie Nelson | Mystic Lake Showroom | | | | | March 26,2010 | | Prior Lake, MN | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Saturday | Willie Nelson | Mystic Lake Showroom | | | | | March 27,2010 | | Prior Lake, MN | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Sunday | Willie Nelson | 7 Flags Event Center | | | | | March 28,2010 | | Clive, IA | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Thursday | Willie Nelson | Grove of Anaheim | | | | | April 15,2010 | | Anaheim, CA | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Tuesday | Willie Nelson | Topeka Performing Arts Center | | | | | April 20,2010 | | Topeka, KS | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Wednesday | Willie Nelson | Memorial Auditorium -TX | | | | | April 21,2010 | | Wichita Falls, TX | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Thursday | Willie Nelson | Dos Amigos Cantina | | | | | April 22,2010 | | Odessa, TX | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Friday | Willie Nelson | Whitewater On The Horseshoe | | | | | April 23,2010 | | New Braunfels, TX | | | | 7:00 PM | | | | | | | | Saturday | Willie Nelson | Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheatre | | | | | April 24,2010 | 38 Special | College Station, TX | | | | 11:59 PM | | | | | | | | Saturday | Willie Nelson | Seneca Allegany Casino and Hotel | | | | | May 8,2010 | | Salamanca, NY | | | | 11:59 PM | | | | | | | | Sunday | Willie Nelson | Pier Six Concert Pavilion | | | | | July 25,2010 | | Baltimore, MD | | | | 7:30 PM | | Back To Top | | | | | | Wednesday | Willie Nelson | Radio City Music Hall | | | | | July 28,2010 | | New York, NY | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Tuesday | Willie Nelson | Wolftrap Farm | | | | | August 3,2010 | | Vienna, VA | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Sunday | Willie Nelson | Ironstone Amphitheatre at Ironstone Vineyards | | | | | September 12,2010 | | Murphys, CA | | | | 11:59 PM | | | | | | | | Tuesday | Willie Nelson | Hanford Fox Theatre | | | | | September 14,2010 | | Hanford, CA | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Thursday | Willie Nelson | Puyallup Fairgrounds | | | | | September 16,2010 | | Puyallup, WA | | | | 7:30 PM | | | | | | | | Friday | Willie Nelson | Les Schwab Amphitheater | | | | | September 17,2010 | | Bend, OR | | | | 5:00 PM | | | | | | | | Sunday | Willie Nelson | Cuthbert Amphitheater | | | | | September 19,2010 | | Eugene, OR | | | | 11:59 PM | | | | | | | | Sunday | Willie Nelson | Harrah's Rio Vista Amphitheater | | | | | September 19,2010 | | Laughlin, NV | | | | 11:59 PM | | | | | | | | Monday | Willie Nelson | The Catalyst-CA | | | | | September 20,2010 | | Santa Cruz, CA | | | | 7:00 PM | | | | | | | | Friday | Willie Nelson | Greek Theatre-Los Angeles | | | | | September 24,2010 | | Los Angeles, CA | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | | | | | Sunday | Willie Nelson | Harrah's Rincon | | | | | September 26,2010 | | Valley Center, CA | | | | 8:00 PM | | | | |
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Nelson was born and raised in Abbott, Texas, the son of Myrtle and Ira D. Nelson, who was a mechanic and pool hall owner. His grandparents William Alfred Nelson and Nancy Elizabeth Smothers gave him mail-order music lessons starting at age six. He wrote his first song at when he was seven and was playing in a local band at age nine. Willie played the guitar, while his sister Bobbie played the piano. He met Bud Fletcher, a fiddler, and two siblings joined his band, Bohemian Fiddlers, while Nelson was in high school.
Beginning in high school Nelson worked as a disc jockey for local radio stations. Nelson had short DJ stints with KHBR in Hillsboro, Texas, and later with KBOP in Pleasanton, Texas, while singing locally in honky tonk bars.
Nelson graduated from Abbott High School in 1951. He joined the Air Force the same year but was discharged after nine months due to back problems. He then studied agriculture at Baylor University for one year in 1954.
In 1956, Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, to begin a musical career, recording "Lumberjack," which was written by Leon Payne. The single sold fairly well, but did not establish a career. Nelson continued to work as a radio announcer in Vancouver and sing in clubs. He sold a song called "Family Bible" for $50; the song was a hit for Claude Gray in 1960, has been covered widely and is often considered a gospel music classic.
Nelson moved to Nashville in 1960, but was unable to land a record label contract. He did, however, receive a publishing contract at Pamper Music. After Ray Price recorded Nelson's "Night Life" (reputedly the most covered country song of all time. A version "Night Life" was even recorded by convicted killer and former cult leader Charles Manson.), Nelson joined Price's touring band as a bass player. While playing with Ray Price and the Cherokee Cowboys, many of Nelson's songs became hits for some of country and pop music's biggest stars of the time. These songs include "Funny How Time Slips Away" (Billy Walker), "Hello Walls" (Faron Young), "Pretty Paper" (Roy Orbison) and most famously, "Crazy" (Patsy Cline). Nelson signed with Liberty Records in 1961 and released several singles, including "Willingly" (sung with his wife, Shirley Collie) and "Touch Me."
He was unable to keep his momentum going, however, and Nelson's career ground to a halt. Demo recordings from his years as a songwriter for Pamper Music were later discovered and released as Crazy: The Demo Sessions (2003).
In 1965, Nelson moved to RCA Victor Records and joined the Grand Ole Opry. He followed this with a series of minor hits and then retired and moved to Austin, Texas. While in Austin, with its burgeoning "hippie" music scene (see Armadillo World Headquarters), Nelson decided to return to music. His popularity in Austin soared, as he played his own brand of country music marked by rock and roll, jazz, western swing, and folk influences. A lifelong passion for running and a new commitment to his own health also began during this period.
Nelson signed with Atlantic Records and released Shotgun Willie (1973), which won excellent reviews but did not sell well. Phases and Stages (1974), a concept album inspired by his divorce, included the hit single "Bloody Mary Morning." Nelson then moved to Columbia Records, where he was given complete creative control over his work. The result was the critically acclaimed, massively popular concept album, Red Headed Stranger (1975). Although Columbia was reluctant to release an album with primarily a guitar and piano for accompaniment, Nelson insisted (with the assistance of Waylon Jennings) and the album was a huge hit, partially because it included a popular cover of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" (written by Fred Rose in 1945). "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" became Nelson's first number one hit as a singer.
Along with Nelson, Waylon Jennings was also achieving success in country music in the early 1970s, and the pair were soon combined into a genre called outlaw country ("outlaw" because it did not conform to Nashville standards). Nelson's outlaw image was cemented with the release of the album Wanted! The Outlaws (1976, with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser), country music's first platinum album. Nelson continued to top the charts with hit songs during the late 1970s, including "Good Hearted Woman" (a duet with Jennings), "Remember Me", "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time", "Uncloudy Day", "I Love You a Thousand Ways", and "Something to Brag About" (a duet with Mary Kay Place).
In 1978, Nelson released two more platinum albums, Waylon and Willie (a collaboration with Jennings that included "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," which was written and originally recorded as a hit single by Ed Bruce a couple of years earlier), and Stardust, an unusual, string-based album of popular standards. It was produced by Booker T. Jones. Though most observers predicted that Stardust would ruin his career, it ended up being one of his most successful recordings.
Nelson began acting, appearing in The Electric Horseman (1979), Honeysuckle Rose (1980), Thief (1981), and Barbarosa (1982). Also in 1982 he played "Red Loon," in Coming Out of the Ice with John Savage. In 1984 he starred in the movie Songwriter with Kris Kristoferson guest starring. He then had the lead role in Red Headed Stranger (1986, with Morgan Fairchild), Wag the Dog (1997), Gone Fishin (1997) as Billy 'Catch' Pooler, the 1986 TV movie Stagecoach (with Johnny Cash), and Dukes of Hazard (2006) with Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, whom along with Cash would form a band with Nelson called The Highwaymen).
He has continued acting since his early successes, but usually in smaller roles and cameos, some of which involve his status as a cannabis activist and icon. One of his more popular recent cameos was a performance in Half Baked as an elderly "Historian Smoker" who, while smoking marijuana, would reminisce about how things used to be in his younger years. Nelson also appeared as himself in the 2006 movie Beerfest, looking for teammates to join him in a mythical world-championship cannabis-smoking contest held in Amsterdam.
He has made guest appearances on Miami Vice, Delta, Nash Bridges, The Simpsons, Monk, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, King of the Hill, and The Colbert Report. He played Uncle Jesse in The Dukes of Hazzard, the 2005 cinematic treatment of the television series, and was the only member of the big screen cast to reprise the role in the TV/DVD movie prequel The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (2007) (V). He also briefly appeared in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
The Eighties saw a series of hit singles: "Always on My Mind" (originally made popular by Elvis Presley), "On the Road Again" from the movie Honeysuckle Rose and "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" (a rather incongruous duet with Julio Iglesias). There were also more popular albums, including Pancho & Lefty (1982, with Merle Haggard), WWII (1982, with Waylon Jennings) and Take it to the Limit (1983, with Waylon Jennings).
In the mid-1980s, Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash formed a group called The Highwaymen. They achieved unexpectedly massive success, including platinum record sales and worldwide touring. Meanwhile, he became more and more involved in charity work, such as establishing the Farm Aid concerts in 1985.
In 1990, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) handed Nelson a bill for $16.7 million in back taxes and seized most of his assets to help pay the charges. He released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? as a double album, with all profits going straight to the IRS. Many of his assets were auctioned and purchased by friends, who gave his possessions back to him or rented them at a nominal fee. He sued accounting firm Price Waterhouse, contending that they put him into tax shelters that were later disallowed. [6] The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount. His debts were paid by 1993.
In 1996, Willie Nelson was featured on the Beach Boys' now out-of-print album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 singing a cover of their 1964 song "The Warmth of the Sun" with the Beach Boys themselves providing the harmonies and backing vocals. He also starred in Baywatch as an old man in boxer shorts.
He released Across the Borderline in 1993, with guests Bob Dylan, Sinéad O'Connor, David Crosby, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson and Paul Simon.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson has toured continuously and released albums that generally received mixed reviews, with the exception of 1998's critically acclaimed Teatro (which was produced by Daniel Lanois—more commonly known for his work with U2—and featured supporting vocals by Emmylou Harris). Later that year, he joined rock band Phish onstage for several songs as part of the annual Farm Aid festival. He also performed a duet concert with fellow Highwayman Johnny Cash, recorded for the VH1 Storytellers series.
Nelson received Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. A star-studded television special celebrating his 70th birthday aired in 2003. In 2004, he released Outlaws & Angels, featuring guests Toby Keith, Joe Walsh, Merle Haggard, Kid Rock, Al Green, Shelby Lynne, Carole King, Toots Hibbert, Ben Harper, Lee Ann Womack, The Holmes Brothers, Los Lonely Boys, Lucinda Williams, Keith Richards, Jerry Lee Lewis and Rickie Lee Jones. Willie Nelson: An Epic Life by Joe Nick Patoski will be released in April, 2008. Mr. Patoski did over 100 interviews with Willie, his family, his band, the people he grew up with in Abbott, and many others. This is part biography, part memoir, part history, from the depression to Willie as he celebrates his 75th birthday.
In 2004, Nelson and his wife Annie became partners with Bob and Kelly King in the building of two Pacific Bio-diesel plants, one in Salem, Oregon, and the other at Carl's Corner, Texas, (the Texas plant was founded by Carl Cornelius, a longtime Nelson friend). In 2005, Nelson and several other business partners formed Willie Nelson Bio-diesel ("Bio-Willie"), a company that is marketing bio-diesel bio-fuel to truck stops. The fuel is made from vegetable oil (mainly soybean oil), and can be burned without modification in diesel engines.
Nelson is a co-chair of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) advisory board. He has worked with NORML for years for marijuana decriminalization and has produced commercials for NORML that have appeared on Pot TV programs. In 2005, Nelson and his family hosted the first annual "Willie Nelson & NORML Benefit Golf Tournament," which appeared on the cover of High Times magazine.
On January 9, 2005, Nelson headlined an all-star concert at Austin Music Hall to benefit the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Tsunami Relief Austin to Asia raised an estimated $120,000 for UNICEF and two other organizations.
Nelson was a supporter of Kinky Friedman's campaign in the 2006 Texas gubernatorial election. In 2005, he recorded a radio advertisement asking for support to put Friedman on the ballot as an independent candidate. Friedman promised Willie a job in Austin as the head of a new Texas Energy Commission due to Nelson's support of bio-fuels. (Friedman was on the ballot but came in fourth with 12.43 percent, losing to Republican Rick Perry.
Nelson supported Dennis Kucinich's campaign in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries. He raised money, appeared at events, composed a song ("Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth?"), and contributing a quote for the front cover of Kucinich's book for the campaign.
Nelson is an honorary trustee of the Dayton International Peace Museum.
Nelson is an advocate for horses and their treatment. He has been campaigning for passage of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311) with the Animal Welfare Institute. He is on the Board of Directors and has adopted a number of horses from Habitat for Horses.
In March 2007, Ben & Jerry's released a new flavor, "Willie Nelson’s Country Peach Cobbler Ice Cream". Nelson's proceeds will be donated to Farm Aid. The flavor has been re-released and is now available, after Ben & Jerry's voluntary recall of 250,000 pints of the new flavor on March 19, 2007, as wheat was incorrectly excluded from the list of ingredients.
Willie Nelson founded the Willie Nelson Peace Research Institute in April 2007. Nelson and his daughter Amy Nelson wrote a song called "A Peaceful Solution", which they released into the public domain, and encouraged artists to render their own version of the song, which he would feature on the Institute's web site.
Nelson questions the official story of what happened on September 11th. On February 4th, 2008, Nelson appeared on Alex Jones's radio show and talked about the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, stating his belief that the Twin Towers were imploded: "I saw one fall and it was just so symmetrical, I said wait a minute I just saw that last week at the casino in Las Vegas and you see these implosions all the time and the next one fell and I said hell there's another one - and they're trying to tell me that an airplane did it and I can't go along with that."
Nelson's touring and recording group is a collection of a number of longstanding members, including his sister Bobbie Nelson, longtime drummer Paul English, harmonicist Mickey Raphael, Bee Spears, Billy English (Paul's younger brother), and Jody Payne. Willie tours North America in his bio-diesel (aka "Bio-Willie" - Willie Nelson Bio-diesel) bus, the "Honeysuckle Rose IV."
Nelson's principal guitar is a Martin N-20 nylon-string acoustic, which he has named "Trigger", after Roy Rogers' horse. Constant strumming over the decades has worn a large sweeping hole into the guitar's body near the sound hole. Its soundboard has been signed over the years by over a hundred of Nelson's friends and associates, from fellow musicians to lawyers and football coaches.
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