Willie Nelson Recording

Sing - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain

Willie Nelson Information

QUIZIZZ BLOOKET

Willie Nelson Performances

Solo

Collaborations

As a Songwriter

Willie Nelson was born on April 29, 1933, in Abbott, Texas, during the Great Depression. Soon after his birth, his mother left the family. His father also abandoned the family after marrying another woman. Willie and his sister, Bobbie, were raised by their grandparents, who taught music for a living. Willie got his first guitar at the age of 6 as a gift from his grandfather. His grandfather would take Willie and Bobbie to a nearby church where he would play the guitar and she would sing. By the age of 7, Nelson started writing his own songs. When he was 9, he joined his first band, Bohemian Polka 

By the time Willie Nelson reached middle school, he was playing music all over the state. His family picked cotton during summers, but Willie made money by playing music in parties, halls, and other small venues. He attended Abbott High School. In school, he developed a liking for sports and was part of the school’s football and basketball teams. He completed high school in 1950. 

Willie joined the Air Force soon after graduating from high school, but was honorably discharged within a year due to back pain. In the mid-1950s, he attended Baylor University and studied farming. Midway through the program, however, he decided to quit academics and pursue music seriously. Willie Nelson traveled to different places, taking jobs to make money while he wrote songs and looked for success in the music business. During this time, he worked as a dishwasher, radio DJ, bible salesman, and vacuum cleaner salesman, all while writing and performing music.

Nelson moved to Nashville in 1960 after a song he wrote called “Family Bible” became a hit for Claude Gray. With help from fellow songwriter Hank Cochran, Willie got work as a staff writer for Pamper Music and quickly established himself as one of the most talented songwriters in the business. He wrote huge hit songs like “Crazy” for Patsy Cline, “Funny How Time Slips Away” for Billy Walker, and “Hello Walls” for Faron Young. He was less successful as a performer, however, and Nelson eventually found himself tiring of rejection. 

Willie finally decided to quit music and moved back home to Texas in 1972, where he focused on pig farming. In Austin, he discovered a music scene that suited his style more than Nashville had. He let his hair and his beard grow long and wrote and sang the way he wanted. After signing with Columbia Records and gaining complete creative control over his records in 1975, Willie Nelson brought his own band into the studio. His debut release for the label, The Red Headed Stranger, became a huge hit, with the song "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" becoming his first Number 1 hit as a performer. His brand of country music, called Outlaw Country, had become a sensation. Nelson would follow with LPs that revealed his versatility and wide-ranging interests, including collaborations with artists like Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. 1978’s Stardust, a collection of classic pop songs that sold four million copies, garnered him a new audience, and is still considered one of his best works. With these successes, Willie Nelson became the biggest country music star of the time.

Willie Nelson continued his successes through the 1980's as a solo artist and in collaboration with other musicians. The Highwaymen, formed by Willie, was a legendary supergroup that also included major country music stars Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings. In addition to his success as a musician, Willie Nelson has regularly appeared in films and TV series as an actor. As an author, Willie Nelson has written more than half a dozen books. 

Willie Nelson has won many awards, including 11 Country Music Awards and 12 GRAMMY awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, received the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999, and won the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize in 2015. In 2003, Country Music Television placed him at No. 4 among the “Greatest Men of Country.” 

Even after turning 80, Willie has not stopped making music. He continues playing concerts and recording albums. As of 2021, his most recent release is "That's Life," which is a tribute to one of Willie Nelson's musical heroes, Frank Sinatra. Willie Nelson has been and remains one of Texas' most important musicians.