Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelsonis an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie, combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Strangerand Stardust, made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCountry Singer
Date of Birth29 April 1933
CityAbbot, TX
CountryUnited States of America
He's got to be there. He belongs there as much as anybody else. He's done as much as any of us to progress country music and let it be heard around the world and give it the respect it deserves.
There's a great enthusiasm for good country music all over the world.
I like myself better when I'm writing regularly. ... I was influenced a lot by those around me-there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields. ... I'm a country songwriter and we write cry-in-your-beer songs. That's what we do. Something that you can slow dance to...I never gave up on country music because I knew what I was doing was not that bad. ... Most of the stuff I've read about me has been true.
Those people out there like good music. They don't stop and ask themselves, 'Is it country or rock and roll?' If they like it, they will tell you.
A lot of country music is sad.
Well the country songs themselves are three-chord stories, ballads which are mostly sad. If you are already feeling sorry for yourself when you listen to them they will take you to an even sadder place.
A lot of country music is sad. I think most art comes out of poverty and hard times. It applies to music. Three chords and the truth — that’s what a country song is. There is a lot of heartache in the world.
I never gave up on country music because I knew what I was doing was not that bad.
Oh, I think it's definitely spiritual. All music is. I think it's maybe one of the highest forms of spirituality.
I think Ray Charles did as much as anybody when he did his country music album. Ray Charles broke down borders and showed the similarities between country music and R&B.
At 82, Nelson (who wrote the song "On the Road Again," among a thousand or more others) is the elder statesman of country music, a steadying and powerful voice in the industry and on environmental issues, and he's still on the road much of the year. The music keeps calling.
Three chords and the truth - that's what a country song is.
The winds of change are always blowingAnd every time I try to stayThe winds of change continue blowingAnd they just carry me away.
The song's been in the closet for 20 years. The timing's right for it to come out.