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Willie Nelson is a legendary American musician who has released 72 studio albums over the course of his career. He is also a novelist, songwriter, singer, and poet, as well as an actor. He has released 110 singles during the last six decades. Nelson has received multiple honors and has performed in various films. Nelson is also an activist, serving on the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws’ board of directors.
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Willie Nelson Early Years
Willie Hugh Nelson was born in Abbott, Texas on April 29, 1933. He is Myrle and Ira Nelson’s son. Mildred, his cousin, called him Willie and gave him the middle name Hugh in honor of her younger brother, who died just before Willie was born.
In 1929, his parents relocated from Arkansas to Texas in search of a job. His grandfather was a blacksmith, and his father was a mechanic. His mother abandoned the family not long after he was born. Nelson and his sister Bobbie were raised by their grandparents after their father remarried and went away.
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When he was six, his grandfather bought him a guitar and taught him a few chords. Willie and Bobbie’s grandparents trained them to sing and set them on their musical path. Nelson and his sister Bobbie sang gospel music with their granddad in the church choir. Willie composed his first song at the age of seven, and by the age of nine, he was playing guitar in a local band called Bohemian Polka.
Willie Nelson Career
Willie attended Abbott High School and was heavily involved in sports. He played football, basketball, and baseball. He was also a member of the Future Farmers of America, for whom he farmed pigs. During high school, he was a member of the band The Texans, which was founded by his sister’s husband, Bud Fletcher. In the band, Willie sang and played the guitar.
The Texans performed in honky-tonks and had a radio show on Sunday mornings. In 1952, Nelson graduated from Abbott High School. He briefly served in the Air Force before enrolling at Baylor University to study agriculture. He was a Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity member. Nelson dropped out of college after two years to pursue a musical career. Nelson worked as a saddle maker, tree trimmer, bouncer, and at an auto parts store while launching his music career.
Nelson went to Pleasanton, Texas, after landing a position as a DJ at KBOP. Using the radio station’s equipment, he recorded his first two songs, “The Storm Has Just Begun” and “When I’ve Sung My Last Hillbilly Song,” in 1955. He sent the demos to a local record label, but they were turned down.
Nelson went on to work for a number of Texas radio stations and perform in nightclubs. He eventually arrived in Portland, where his mother lived. He worked as a DJ at several radio stations in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington during this time.
This is when he wrote a number of songs that would go on to become country standards as well as some of his biggest singles, including “Funny How Time Slips Away.” Nelson relocated to Nashville and secured a publishing contract in 1960. In 1962, he released his first album, “…And Then I Wrote.” The album was a hit. In 1964, he signed with RCA Victor and in 1965, he joined the Grand Ole Opry.
Nelson is one of the most popular and prolific musicians in the outlaw country style. Nelson had huge success with “Shotgun Willie,” “Red Headed Stranger,” and “Stardust” in 1973, 1975, and 1978. Nelson released the famous hit songs “On the Road Again” and “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” in the mid-1980s.
With Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings, he also founded the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Nelson has appeared in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has advocated for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana, in addition to his musical commitments.
Willie Nelson’s Private Life
Willie Nelson has seven children from four marriages. From 1952 to 1962, he was married to Martha Matthews. Lana, Susie, and Wilie “Billy” Hugh, Jr. were their three children. Willie Sr. was assaulted multiple times by Martha.
She stitched him into bedsheets and thrashed him with a broomstick at one point. Billy, their son, committed suicide in 1991. From 1963 to 1971, Nelson was married to Shirley Collie. They split after Shirley discovered a maternity ward bill and learned that Willie had a daughter, Paula Carlene Nelson, with Connie Koepke.
Nelson married Koepke in 1971 and had another daughter, Amy Lee Nelson. In 1988, they divorced. In 1991, he married Annie D’Angelo, and they had two boys, Lukas Autry Nelson, and Jacob Micah Nelson. Lukas Nelson, like his father, is a well-known country performer who focuses on a rock with his band Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real.
Willie Nelson’s Net Worth
Willie Nelson is a $25 million net-worth American country music singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor, activist, and national treasure. Willie Nelson’s net worth has been accumulated through his musical career, songwriting, and numerous roles in television and film, as well as the publication of his autobiography and other books.
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