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Willie Nelson

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Willie Nelson

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Also known as Red Headed Stranger, Shotgun Willie, Willie Hugh Nelson

American country musician (born 1933)

OverviewAI-generated

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American singer-songwriter, writer, and actor born in Abbott, Texas, in 1933. He began his work period in 1956 and is educated at Baylor University. Nelson performs in genres including country music, pop music, Americana, and blues, playing instruments such as the guitar and steel-string acoustic guitar. He has worked in Nashville and Austin and is a member of the Democratic Party.

His notable works include *Trail Mix Volume Two*, *Always On My Mind*, and *Willie & Annie Nelson's Cannabis Cookbook*. Nelson has received the Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. He is also recognized in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame collection and the Kennedy Center Honors collection. He resides in Maui and Nashville and is married to Shirley Collie Nelson.

Synthesized by Vinony from 41 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Open Library, Europeana Sparql, Firecrawl, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
38

Top works

  • Trail Mix Volume Two
  • Always On My Mind
  • Willie & Annie Nelson's Cannabis Cookbook
  • Willie's Cannabis Cookbook
  • Ranch That Was Us

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Abbott, Texas, USA

Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 30, 1933) is an American country singer-songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. Nelson was one of the main figures of the Outlaw Movement, a subgenre of Country music that developed between the end of 1960s and early 1980s. The critical success of the albums Shotgun Willie, Phases and Stages, and the commercial success of Red Headed Stranger made Nelson one…

Known for

  • The Man with the Big Hat — Self (archive footage)2026
  • Willie Nelson Presents: King of the Roadies — Self2025
  • The Greatest Night in Pop — Self (archive footage)2024
  • Willie and Me — Willie Nelson / Bones2024
  • Heartbreakers at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2023
  • Willie Nelson 90: Long Story Short — Self2023
  • Joke Man — Self2023
  • June — Self2023
  • Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration — Self2023
  • Willie Nelson & Family — Self2023

via TMDB

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
1,611,462
Total plays
26,486,677

Tags

countryfolksinger-songwriteroutlaw countryamericana

Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American musician, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. <a href=

via Last.fm · Willie Nelson

Official website

Link to the official site · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Hugh
Family name
Nelson
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Abbott
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
English language
Instrument
voice
Official website
willienelson.com
Image
Willie Nelson in Redmond, Washington 2008.jpg
Work location
Austin
Residence
Nashville
Show 12 more facts
Commons category
Willie Nelson
date of birth
1933-04-10
topic's main category
Category:Willie Nelson
Commons gallery
Willie Nelson
birth name
Willie Hugh Nelson
start of work period
1956-00-00
name in native language
Willie Nelson
copyright representative
Broadcast Music, Inc.
social media followers
1110000
writing language
English language
Sources (12)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

36 objects attributed to Willie Nelson, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. The critical success of his album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.

Nelson wrote his first song at the age of seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the U.S. Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music. He worked as a disc jockey at radio stations in his native Texas, and at several radio stations in the Pacific Northwest, all the while working as a singer and songwriter throughout the late 1950s. During that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Hello Walls", "Pretty Paper", and "Crazy".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Willie Nelson” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (13)