Willie Nelson to celebrate 90th birthday

(27 Apr 2023)

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nashville, Tenn., 7 January 2017
1. Wide shot Willie Nelson walks on stage as fans cheer
2. Medium shot Willie Nelson performs "Whiskey River"

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington, D.C., 18 November 2015
3. Willie Nelson arrives to be honored with Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, enters photocall area, pull out
4. Close up of Willie Nelson being interviewed, pull out to wide

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York, 6 June 2013
5. Willie Nelson arrives poses at his 80th birthday celebration
6. Willie Nelson poses with children and family at his 80th birthday celebration
7. Wide shot Annie and Willie Nelson walking on red carpet
8. Medium shot Willie Nelson talking to reporter
9. Medium shot Willie Nelson talking to reporter

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nashville, Tenn., 7 January 2017
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Willie Nelson, recording artist, on releasing a brand of legal marijuana:
"For a long time I felt that you know it should be legalized. Now different states are doing it. Next thing you know maybe a lot more states will do it. And I think the more that people realize that it's more of a medicine than it is harmful, the more doctors have come out and say, 'Hey, you know.' They're bringing children from all over the world, the Charlotte's Web thing in Colorado and in different places. So, it's already been proven that it can be helpful. It's like anything else you kind of overdo it and abuse it. And I don't recommend that at all."
(Reporter: "Do you smoke every day?")
"Probably."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York, 16 January 1978
11. STILL IMAGE: Willie Nelson at party to celebrate his new album

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Buena Park, Calif., 9 May 1983
12. STILL IMAGE: Willie Nelson poses with award at 18th annual Academy of Country Music Awards held at Berry Farm

STORYLINE:


Texas troubadour Willie Nelson will celebrate his 90th birthday with his friends and family at an all-star two-day concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

The Grammy-winning country icon's milestone birthday party will take place on April 29-30 (Nelson says he was born on the 29th but official records state the 30th) and will feature Nelson and dozens of performers, including Neil Young, Chris Stapleton, Lyle Lovett, Miranda Lambert, Rosanne Cash, Snoop Dogg, The Chicks, Kacey Musgraves and many more.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 30, 1933, Nelson and his sister Bobbie were raised by their grandparents after their father died and their mother abandoned them.

Encouraged to learn musical instruments, Willie chose guitar and began performing when he was four, and he was writing songs by the time he was seven.

After high school and a short stint in the military (cut short by back problems) Nelson got a job as a DJ at a local Fort Worth station. He continued to sing, however, and after moving to Nashville in 1961, he landed a music publishing contract.

That year, three songs penned by Nelson hit the charts; Faron Young's "Hello Walls," Billy Walker's"'Funny How Time Slips Away" and Patsy Cline's now - legendary lament "Crazy" all hit the Top 40.

In 1965 he signed a deal with RCA Records, was accepted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry and became deeply entrenched in the Nashville music scene.

By the close of the decade, however, Nelson was looking in a new direction. In 1973 he released 'Shotgun Willie' on Atlantic Records, the first album of his new "outlaw country" image.


In 1978 Nelson teamed up with fellow country outlaw Waylon Jennings to record Waylon and Willie and the country anthem "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."








Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/f4147a9b605f42cd80af370f74617d60