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Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 30, 1933) is an
American guitarist and country music|country
singer, originally from Abbott, Texas. He reached
his greatest fame during the outlaw country
movement of the 1970s, though he had already
become famous as a 1960s songwriter.

==Biographical details==

===Beginnings===

Nelson and his sister, Bobbie Nelson|Bobbie, were
raised by their grandparents after their father
died and their mother ran away. He lived next door
to his best friend, Ross Cleveland, who was an ace
left-handed pitcher for the Abbott High Panthers.
Ross and Willie also played on the football and
basketball teams. Some days, while Ross and others
picked cotton in the fields, Willie would find a
tree and sleep under it. Willie played the guitar,
while Bobbie played the piano. She met Bud
Fletcher, a fiddler, and both siblings joined his
band while Willie was in high school.

After graduation, Nelson joined the United States
Air Force|Air Force, but left due to back
problems. Eventually, he became a disk jockey|DJ
at a country radio station in Fort Worth, Texas,
while singing locally in honky tonk bars. In 1956,
Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington to begin a
musical career by recording "Lumberjack" by Leon
Payne. The single sold respectably but did not
establish a career. Nelson continued to DJ and
sing in clubs, and sold a song called "Family
Bible" for fifty dollars; the song was a hit for
Claude Gray in 1960, has been cover
version|covered widely, and is often considered a
gospel music classic.

===Popular songwriter===

Nelson moved to Nashville, Tennessee 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), Nelson joined Price's touring band as a
bassist. While playing with Ray Price & the
Cherokee Cowboys, many of Nelson's songs became
hits. "Funny How Time Slips Away" (Billy Walker),
"Hello Walls" (Faron Young), "Pretty Paper" (Roy
Orbison) and, most famously, "Crazy (song)|Crazy"
(Patsy Cline) became popular songs in the 1960s.
Nelson signed with Liberty Records in 1961 and
released several singles, including the hits
"Willingly" (with his wife, Shirley Collie) and
"Touch Me". He was unable to keep his momentum
going, though, and Nelson's career ground to a
halt.  Demo (music)|Demo recordings from his years
as a songwriter for Pamper Music were later
discovered and released as Crazy: The Demo
Sessions (2003).  His personal life during this
period was also colorful, to say the least.  His
alcoholism, failed day jobs, and penchant for
carrying guns got him in trouble with the law and
his wife a number of times.

===Austin===

In 1965, Nelson moved to RCA Records and joined
the Grand Ole Opry, followed by a series of minor
hits. Frustrated with the music business which
tried to force him into a mold, Nelson 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 music|folk
influences.  A lifelong passion for running and a
new commitment to his own health also began during
this period.

===Outlaw country===

Signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson 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
two hit singles, "Bloody Mary Morning" and "After
the Fire is Gone". 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). Though Columbia
was reluctant to release an album with mostly just
a guitar and piano for accompaniment, Nelson (with
the assistance of Waylon Jennings) insisted and
the album was a huge hit, partially because it
included a popular cover of "Blue Eyes Crying in
the Rain" (Roy Acuff).

Along with Nelson, Waylon Jennings was also
achieving massive 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). The term
was coined by a country music journalist, and
cemented with the release of Wanted: The Outlaws!
(1976 with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and
Tompall Glaser), country music's first RIAA
certification|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 one of Nelson's signature songs, "Mammas
Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys") and
Stardust (album)|Stardust, an unusual,
string-based album of pop songs produced by Booker
T. Jones. Though most observers predicted that
Stardust would ruin his career, it ended up being
one of his most successful Vinyl record|LPs.

===Acting career===

Nelson began acting, appearing in The Electric
Horseman (1979), Honeysuckle Rose (1980),
Red-Headed Stranger (movie)|Red-Headed Stranger
(1986, with Morgan Fairchild), and the 1986 TV
movie Stagecoach (movie)|Stagecoach (with Johnny
Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson). 
He has continued acting since his early successes,
but usually in smaller roles and cameos, a good
example being Half Baked. He has made guest
appearance on the Simpsons, Monk (TV series)| Monk
and King of the Hill (TV series)|King of the Hill.
 He plays Uncle Jesse in the 2005 cinematic remake
of The Dukes of Hazzard.

===Hits, excesses, and Farm Aid===

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 duet with Julio Iglesias).  There were
also more popular albums, including Pancho and
Lefty (1982, with Merle Haggard), WWII
(album)|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. In spite of their
unexpectedly massive successes, including platinum
record sales and worldwide touring, Nelson's
popularity declined dramatically.  He became more
and more involved in charity work, such as
establishing the Farm Aid concerts in 1985.  He
also became known for his financial excesses,
including a private jet aircraft|jet, his own
small town, a palatial estate, and a private golf
course.  


In 1990, the Internal Revenue Service|IRS gave
Nelson a bill for $16.7 million in back taxes and
took away 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. His debts were paid by 1993.

===Hard-drivin' American troubadour===

He released Across the Borderline in 1993, with
guests Bob Dylan, SinÊad 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).  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 and Rickie Lee
Jones.

===Environmental and Social endeavors===

Nelson, fellow musician Neil Young and two other
business partners recently (2005) formed a company
called Willie Nelson's Biodiesel (aka BioWillie)
that is marketing Biodiesel biofuel to truck
stops. The fuel is made from vegetable oils,
mainly soybeans, and can be burned without
modification in diesel engines
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66288,
00.html.

Willie also sits as co-chair on the NORML advisory
board, which include such names as Bill Mahr, Mark
Stepnoski, Daniel Stern, Lester Grinspoon, M.D.
from the Harvard Medical School, and Sheriff Bill
Masters of Telluride, CO. He has been working with
the organization for many years in an attempt to
'normalize' the use of cannabis. Just this past
year (2005), Willie and his family hosted the
first annual Willie Nelson & NORML Benefit Golf
Tournament and will appear on the cover of High
Times Magazine.

==Popular image==

Willie Nelson is widely recognized as an American
icon.  His distinctive music sometimes takes a
backseat to his public image, that of a marijuana
smoking old hippie troubadour.  His image is
marked by his red hair, often braided into two
ponytails and partially concealed under a bandana.
 He has been featured in recent advertisements for
a variety of products and companies, including The
Gap.  

During the 2003 Texas Congressional Redistricting
Controversy, Nelson made the news by sending a
case of whiskey to the United States Democratic
Party|Democrats of the Texas Legislature in
self-imposed exile in Ardmore, Oklahoma. An
attached note read "Stand your ground." In 2005 a
Democratic representative in Texas' legislature
attempted to name part of a highway after Nelson,
but after
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/
blogs/austin/legislature/entries/2005/04/27/no_hig
hway_for_willie.html opposition from some
Republican lawmakers (who claimed Nelson did not
warrant mention since he had nothing to do with
the creation of the highway), he dropped his plan.
 

Willie Nelson performed a duet on "Beer for my
Horses" with Toby Keith on Keith's Unleashed album
released in 2002. This song was released as a
single in 2003 and Nelson shot a video with Keith
in 2003. It won an award for "Best Video" at the
Academy of Country Music Awards held on May 26,
2004 in music|2004.

==The Willie Nelson family==

Nelson's touring and recording group is a
collection of a number of long-standing members,
including his sister Bobbie Nelson, longtime
drummer Paul English, harmonicist Mickey Raphael,
Bee Spears, and Jody Payne.  They tour North
America in their bus, the "Honeysuckle Rose II". 

Nelson's principal guitar is a Martin
Guitars|Martin 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.

==Selected works==

===Albums===

Nelson has released dozens of albums under a
number of different labels; these are some of his
most notable accomplishments. Bolded albums
reached #1 on the Billboard Music Charts|Billboard
Top Country Albums chart.
# Shotgun Willie (1973 in music|1973)
# Troublemaker (1973)
# Phases and Stages (1974 in music|1974)
# Red Headed Stranger (1975 in music|1975)
# Sound in Your Mind (1976 in music|1976)
# Wanted: The Outlaws! (1976), with Jessi Colter,
Tompall Glaser, and Waylon Jennings
# Waylon and Willie (1978 in music|1978), with
Waylon Jennings
# Stardust (1978)
# Willie and Family Live (1978)
# Honeysuckle Rose (1980 in music|1980)
# Somewhere Over the Rainbow (1981 in music|1981),
with Freddie Powers
# Greatest Hits and Some That Will Be (1981)
# The Winning Hand (with Dolly Parton, Kris
Kristofferson and Brenda Lee) (1982)
# Always On My Mind (1982 in
music|1982)†
# WWII (1982), with Waylon Jennings
# Pancho and Lefty (1982), with Merle Haggard
# City of New Orleans (1984 in music|1984)
# Music From "Songwriter" (1984), with Kris
Kristofferson
# Promised Land (1986 in music|1986)
# The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? (1992 in
music|1992)
# Across The Borderline (1993 in music|1992)
# Teatro (1998 in music|1998)
# The Great Divide (2002 in music|2002)
# Crazy: The Demo Sessions (2003 in music|2003)
# Angels & Outlaws (2004 in music|2004)
# Countryman (2005 in music|2005)
† — In addition to topping the
country chart, Always On My Mind also reached #2
on the Billboard's Top Pop Album chart, which is
quite an accomplishment for a country album.

===Songs===

* "Family Bible" (1960)
* "I Gotta Get Drunk" 
* "Night Life"
* "The Highwayman"
* "Hello Walls"
* "Pretty Paper" 
* "Funny How Time Slips Away"
* "Crazy" (1961)
* "Bloody Mary Morning" (1974)
* "On The Road Again" (1980)
* "Write Your Own Songs" (1982)
* "City of New Orleans" (1984) written by Steve
Goodman

* "Beer for My Horses"

===Movies===
* The Electric Horseman (1979)
* Honeysuckle Rose (1980)
* Barbarosa  (1982)
* Songwriter  (1984)
* Red-Headed Stranger (1986)
* Stagecoach (1986)
* Wag the Dog (1997 cameo)
* Half Baked (1998 cameo)
* The Dukes of Hazzard (movie)|The Dukes of
Hazzard (2005)

===Books===

* Willie: An Autobiography (1988), with Bud
Shrake, ISBN 0-815-41080-8
* The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes (2002)
ISBN 0-375-50731-0

==See also==
*Best selling music artists

== External links ==
* http://biowillie.com
* http://www.willienelson.com/ Willie Nelson's
"World Headquarters" (Official site)
*
http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bio.asp?oid=27
01&cf=2701 Rolling Stones magazine biography
*
http://www.luma-electronic.cz/lp/n/Nelson/nelson1.
htm Complete Willie Nelson Discography
*http://launch.yahoo.com/artist/default.asp?artist
ID=1019226 His page at Launch.
*http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,66288
,00.html "Willie Nelson Bets on Biodiesel" - Wired
Magazine article, 14 January 2005
*http://www.normal.org/ NORML.org