Nelson, Willie (1933-…), is a popular country music composer and singer. Nelson began his music career composing songs for country singers. He launched his singing career in the late 1960’s and soon became one of the most popular performers in country music. His dry, mellow performances of pop music standards gained Nelson popularity with mainstream music fans. Nelson has won a number of Grammy Awards for his music. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
William Hugh Nelson was born on April 30, 1933, in Abbott, Texas. His parents abandoned him when he was 6 years old, and he was raised by his grandparents. He moved to Nashville in 1960 and began his songwriting career, composing “Crazy” (1961), a hit for singer Patsy Cline. Nelson became unhappy with what he felt was the watered-down commercial Nashville sound and moved to Austin, Texas. By the early 1970’s, he helped launch the “outlaw” style in country music that attempted to return to a more authentic country sound.
In 1978, Nelson recorded his Stardust album, which included versions of such pop standards as “Georgia on My Mind,” “Blue Skies,” and “All of Me.” He recorded with many other country stars, notably Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. In 1980, Nelson composed one of his best-known songs, “On the Road Again.” In 1982, he had a hit with the song “Always on My Mind.” Nelson and Julio Iglesias recorded the duet “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” in 1984. It became a crossover hit with pop music audiences as well as country music fans. In 1985, Nelson attracted praise for organizing the first Farm Aid concert to raise money for impoverished farmers. Also in 1985, Nelson joined Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson in forming the Highwaymen. They periodically toured, and released popular albums in 1985, 1990, and 1995.
Nelson has appeared in a number of motion pictures, including The Electric Horseman (1979), Honeysuckle Rose (1980), Thief (1981), Barbarosa (1982), The Red Headed Stranger (1986), Wag the Dog (1997), and Swing Vote (2008). He also appeared in several television movies.
Nelson wrote the memoirs Willie (1988), The Facts of Life (2001), and It’s a Long Story: My Life (2015, with David Ritz). He discussed his philosophy of life in The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart (2006). Nelson also wrote a Western action novel with Mike Blakely, A Tale Out of Luck (2008), and the Christmas fable Pretty Paper: A Christmas Tale (2016) with David Ritz.
