Willie Nelson Turns 90: Keith Richards Joins Hollywood Bowl Bash

Woody Harrelson, Helen Mirren, Ethan Hawke were on hand to introduce an all-star lineup of performers that included Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson, Dave Matthews, Beck and Jack Johnson


Just call them the Rolling Stoners.

You know you are music royalty when Keith Richards shows up to pay his respects. And the Rolling Stones icon was on hand Sunday for the second and final night of Willie Nelson’s epic, 90th birthday concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

At 79, Richards was the youngster in this pairing of living legends, and the two harmonized sweetly on two songs: Waylon Jennings’ “We Had It All” and the late outlaw Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever,” particularly poignant with its refrain, “Just like the songs I leave behind me / I’m gonna live forever, now.”

The Richards surprise came shortly after 10:00 p.m. on this cool, overcast night in the hills above Hollywood, nearly three-and-a-half hours into the evening’s celebration.

Earlier in the set, giant plumes of smoke were projected against the Bowl bandshell as Jack Johnson regaled the crowd with tales of losing poker games to Nelson in his home state of Hawaii, a memory that inspired him to write the song “Willie Got Me Stoned and Took All My Money.”

Marijuana would be a common theme throughout the night. Dave Matthews, who admitted to be nervous in the presence of so many musical titans, recalled meeting Nelson 30 years ago while playing at Farm Aid, then being invited to join the country legend on his tour bus for a marathon smoking session.

“When I thought it couldn’t go on any longer, it had only just begun,” Matthews said. (A photo commemorating the moment adorns his proud mother’s mantel.) He then performed a gorgeous rendition of Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away.”

Woody Harrelson, too, was on hand in a cowboy hat to introduce a couple of marquee names — Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead — who performed the Western swing classic “Stay a Little Longer” — and, later, Willie himself, who snuck up on him from behind.

(The White House Plumbers star couldn’t resist getting in a plug for his West Hollywood weed dispensary, The Woods, just as he did during his Saturday Night Live monologue in February.)

Ethan Hawke, in a suit of peach satin, and Helen Mirren, sporting Nelson’s own cowboy hat, also popped up from time to time to introduce performers as disparate as Beck, Tom Jones, Emmylou Harris and Norah Jones (who performed a touching duet with Kris Kristofferson, 86, on Kristofferson’s popular romantic ballad “Help Me Make it Through the Night”), and Sheryl Crow.