With over 60 years within the music enterprise, Willie Nelson (b. 1933) – songwriter, performer, antiestablishment outlaw, political activist, and philanthropist – is an American establishment. Nelson might name nation music his residence, however he has at all times pushed stylistic boundaries – mixing in rock & roll, jazz, pop, and blues.
Nelson’s first success got here writing hits for nation’s greatest stars, together with Patsy Cline (“Crazy”) and Ray Price (“Night Life”), and songs which have turn out to be requirements (“Funny How Time Slips Away”). In 1962, Nelson launched the primary of a staggering 73 solo studio albums. But he chafed at working inside Nashville’s confines, and in 1972 he returned residence to Texas to make music on his personal phrases. Connecting with Austin’s counterculture, Nelson recorded for Atlantic, combining nation with rock and blues. Songs just like the autobiographical “Me and Paul” (1971) groove and swing with blues licks, whereas pedal metal and piano soar within the foreground. Nelson and co-conspirators Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser ushered within the Outlaw Country motion, with their Wanted! The Outlaws turning into the primary nation album to go Platinum.
By 1975, Nelson was a celebrity. His idea album Red Headed Stranger (1975) delivered his first Number One hit, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.” In true outlaw vogue, Nelson launched a gospel album, Troublemaker (1976), and an album of pop requirements (produced by Booker T), Stardust (1978); each went to Number One. While persevering with to create a songwriter’s dream catalog, Nelson additionally fashioned supergroup the Highwaymen with Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson. He has collaborated with artists as various as Ray Charles, Julio Iglesias, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Wynton Marsalis, and Snoop Dogg.
Willie Nelson’s work has influenced generations of musicians, from Neil Young to John Mellencamp to Kacey Musgraves, and his private actions have supported the welfare of tens of millions of Americans. In 1985, Nelson cofounded Farm Aid to help household farmers. He is co-chair of NORML, which helps marijuana legalization, and he advocates for quite a few causes together with animal welfare and LGBTQIA+ rights.
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