Music Spotlight Collector's Edition: Willie Nelson - The King Of Country – April 2023

No one in country music compares to Willie Nelson. In fact, no one anywhere does. Long since outgrowing his chosen genre, “The Red Headed Stranger” is a unique cultural force who, after seven decades in the business, shows no signs of slowing down.
The list of accolades is incomparable: 25 No. 1 singles on the country music charts, three platinum albums, 15 Grammys, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and George Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, to name a few. He’s an actor, a pot-smoking mogul and a best-selling author. But a rundown of Nelson’s accomplishments only paints a small part of the picture. There’s no limit to Nelson’s artistry, nor to whom he welcomes to the party. He’s championed farmers and LGBTQ rights, and railed against mass incarceration for marijuana and family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border. He’s collaborated with country icons from Waylon Jennings to Dolly Parton to Loretta Lynn, and pop stars like Ray Charles and Sheryl Crow. Even as he turns 90, he’s kept up a nonstop touring schedule, with annual festivals in his home state of Texas, including Luck Reunion on his own ranch. As Nelson gears up to celebrate his 90th birthday with a star-studded concert this April, he swears there’s no big secret to his remarkable drive. “Oh, you know,” he told E! News in 2023, of how he lives: “One day at a time.”