Willie Nelson

At 90 years old, Willie Nelson has this physical status:

Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, actor, and activist.

Nelson was one of the most well-known artists in country music thanks to the critical and commercial success of his album Shotgun Willie (1973).

He was one of the first figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that appeared in the late 1960s as a reaction to the Nashville sound's conservative constraints.

Nelson has appeared in more than 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been instrumental in protests against the use of biofuels and marijuana legalization. Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten after being born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents.

He toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitarist during high school.

After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the Air Force but was later suspended due to back problems.

Early life

Nelson was born in Abbott, Texas, on April 29, 1933, the son of Myrle Marie (née Greenhaw) and Ira Doyle Nelson. Dr. F. D. Sims incorrectly recorded his birth on April 30. He was named Willie by his cousin Mildred, who also chose Hugh as his middle name in honor of her recently deceased younger brother. Nelson traces his ancestor John Nelson's service as a major in the American Revolutionary War, in which he traces his ancestor John Nelson served as a major. In 1929, his parents immigrated from Arkansas to Texas to search for jobs. William's grandfather, William, worked as a blacksmith, while his father, Richard, worked as a mechanic. His mother died soon after he was born, and his father remarried and moved away, leaving Nelson and his sister Bobbie to be raised by their grandparents, who taught singing back in Arkansas and started their grandchildren in music. Nelson's grandfather bought him a guitar when he was six years old and taught him a few chords, and Nelson performed gospel songs in the local church alongside Bobbie. He wrote his first song at the age of seven, and Bohemian Polka, a local band, played guitar when he was nine years old. The family and other Abbotts picked cotton during the summer. Nelson was unable to pick cotton, so he earned money by performing in dance halls, taverns, and honky tonks from age 13, which he continued through high school. Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, Ray Price, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Django Reinhardt, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong were among his musical influences.

Nelson played for Abbott High School, where he played halfback on the football team, guard on the basketball team, and shortstop in baseball. Future Farmers of America raised pigs. As a student, he performed and performed guitar in The Texans, a band formed by his sister's husband, Bud Fletcher. The band appeared in honky tonks and also had a Sunday morning show at KHBR in Hillsboro, Texas. Nelson, on the other hand, served as a relief phone operator in Abbott, as well as a pawn shop employee. Since leaving school in 1950, he joined the United States Air Force; he served for nine months before being medically discharged due to back pains. He married Martha Matthews at Baylor University in 1954, where he began studying agriculture at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity before leaving to pursue a career in music. He worked as a bouncer, autohouse partsman, saddle maker, and tree trimmer once more. He later joined Johnny Bush's band.

Nelson and his family migrated to Pleasanton, Texas, where he auditioned for a job as a DJ at KBOP. Despite Nelson's lack of expertise on radio, the station's president, Dr. Ben Parker, gave him the job. Nelson's first two recordings, "The Storm Has Just Begun" and "When I've Sung My Last Hillbilly Song," were among the station's equipment. He recorded the tracks on used tapes and sent them to the local label SARG Records, which had otherwise rejected them. He spent time in Denton, KCUL, and KCNC in Fort Worth, where he hosted The Western Express and performed in nightclubs. He then decided to move to San Diego, but when he was unable to find a job there, he hitchhiked to Portland, Oregon, where his mother lived. He spent the night in a ditch before hopping a freight train heading for Eugene. To reach Portland, a truck driver led him to a bus station and loaned him $10 for a ticket.

Personal life

Nelson has been married four times and has seven children. Martha Matthews' first marriage was from 1952 to 1962. Lana, Susie, and Willie "Billy" Hugh Jr. were the three children. In 1991, the two brothers committed suicide. Matthews has sex Nelson several times, including one time when she sewned him up in bedsheets and beat him with a broomstick. In 1963, Nelson's next marriage was to Shirley Collie. The couple divorced in 1971 after Collie discovered a bill from the maternity ward of a Houston hospital charged to Nelson and Connie Koepke for Paula Carlene Nelson's birth. Nelson and Koepke married in the same year, and Amy Lee Nelson was born the same year. He married Annie D'Angelo in 1991, following a divorce in 1988. Lukas Autry and Jacob Micah are their two sons.

Nelson owns "Luck, Texas," a Spicewood ranch, as well as a few famous neighbors who live in Maui, Hawaii. Nelson's lung collapsed while swimming in Hawaii in 1981. He was admitted to Maui Memorial Hospital, and his planned concerts were postponed. Nelson's lungs became congested, and he regained control when the congestion abated. He was now smoking between two and three packs a day. After suffering from pneumonia several times, he decided to avoid smoking or nicotine. He decided not to smoke. To minimize the effects of smoke, he started smoking marijuana with a carbon-free system in 2008. Nelson had carpal tunnel syndrome in 2004 after he had strained his wrists by playing the guitar for as long as he could. He cancelled his planned concerts and only wrote songs during his recuperation, after his doctor's request. In 2012, he cancelled a fund-raising appearance in the Denver area. He had respiratory difficulties as a result of high altitude and emphysema, and was admitted to a local hospital. Nelson's publicist Elaine Schock announced shortly that his health was fine and that he was going to his next scheduled concert in Dallas, Texas. Nelson underwent stem-cell therapy in 2015 to improve the condition of his lungs following repeated instances of pneumonia and emphysema throughout the years.

Nelson became interested in martial arts as a child. He ordered self-defense manuals on jujitsu and judo that were not included in Batman and Superman comic books. Since he migrated to Nashville, in the 1960s, Nelson began to officially practice kung fu. Nelson started training in taekwondo in the 1980s and now holds a second-degree black belt in the sport. Nelson began practicing the Korean martial art GongKwon Yusul in the 1990s. In 2014, his Grand Master Sam Umbern presented him with a fifth-degree black belt in a celebration held in Austin, Texas, after 20 years in the discipline. Nelson had an unorthodox method of preparation during the lengthy stretches of time he was on tour, according to a 2014 Tae Kwon Do Times magazine interview. Nelson will perform his martial arts on his tour bus "The Honeysuckle Rose" and then send videos to his supervising Master for review and critique.

Nelson has been arrested multiple times for marijuana use. In 1974, Dallas, Texas, the first time was recorded. Nelson went to the Bahamas in 1977 after a tour with Hank Cochran. Nelson and Cochran arrived late to the airport and boarded the flight without luggage. The bags were later delivered to them. A customs officer in Nelson and Cochran questioned Nelson after marijuana was discovered in a pair of his jeans. Nelson was arrested and jailed. Nelson was given a six-pack of beer to his cell while Cochran made arrangements to pay the bail. Nelson was released a few hours later. He collapsed after he jumped dancing and was admitted to the emergency room. Nelson appeared before the judge, who dismissed the charges but ordered him not to return to the state.

In 1994, highway patrolmen in Waco, Texas, discovered marijuana in his car. His inability to appear in court barred him from attending the Grammy Awards this year. Nelson, along with his boss and sister, Bobbie, were arrested in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, and charged with smoking marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms while on vacation to Ann W. Richards' funeral in 2006. Nelson received six months in probation.

While traveling from Los Angeles to Texas, Nelson was arrested in Sierra Blanca, Texas, for being in possession of six ounces of marijuana in his tour bus on November 26, 2010. Since he was released after forkling on $2,500, he was released. Due to the small amount of marijuana involved, prosecutor Kit Bramblett opposed sentencing Nelson to prison, but instead told Nelson that he would get him to a $100 fine and that he will have him sing "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" for the court. Nelson would have to pay the fine, but not to perform the song, according to judge Becky Dean-Walker, who said that the insurgent was joking. Nelson's advocate Joe Turner reached an understanding with the prosecutor. Nelson was expected to pay $500 to avoid a two-year prison term during a 30-day review period, which could result in the event of another tragedy that would bring an end to the deal. Nelson was later refused the deal, arguing that he was given preferential treatment for his celebrity; the offence normally carried a one-year jail term. Bramblett said that the case would not be dismissed unless the judge changed her mind or was barred from being heard.

The IRS confiscated the majority of Nelson's assets in 1990, citing that he owes $32 million. Nelson's situation was exacerbated by poor investments he had made during the early 1980s, in addition to the unpaid taxes. Nelson was first introduced by Dallas attorney Terry Bray to the accounting firm Price Waterhouse in 1978, after he fired his boss Neil Reshen. Nelson was advised to invest in tax shelters that eventually fell into place to repay the debt that Reshen had incurred with the IRS. Although the IRS denied his deductions for 1980, 1981, and 1982 (at a time when Nelson's income increased), the debt climbed by the end of the decade.

Jay Goldberg, his partner, negotiated the price to be reduced to $16 million. Nelson's solicitor renegotiated an agreement with the IRS in which he paid $6 million, but Nelson did not comply with the terms. Nelson's novel The IRS Tapes: Who Buys My Memories? The IRS will earn the bulk of the money as a double album. Many of his assets were auctioned and purchased by friends who donated or rented his possessions to him for a nominal fee. Price Waterhouse sacked Price Waterhouse, alleging that they paid him to illegal tax shelters. Nelson owed an undisclosed sum, but by 1993, he had settled his accounts.

Source

Music career

Nelson was recruited by KVAN in Vancouver, Washington, and appeared on a television show often. On the B-side, he made his first appearance in 1956, "No Place for Me," which featured Leon Payne's "Lumberjack" on the B-side. The recording was interrupted. Nelson continued to perform in Vancouver clubs as a radio announcer and performer. He appeared in numerous nightclubs in Colorado and then migrated to Springfield, Missouri. After struggling to find a job on the Ozark Jubilee, he took on the role of a dishwasher. He went back to Texas after being dissatisfied with his work. He settled in Fort Worth and stopped playing in Waco for a year after being temporarily homeless. He sold bibles and vacuum cleaners from door to door, and eventually became a Encyclopedia Americana sales manager.

The family moved to Houston, Texas, after Billy was born in 1958. Nelson stopped by the Esquire Ballroom to sell his original songs to house band singer Larry Butler on the way. Butler declined to buy the song "Mr. Record Man" for $10, instead granting Nelson a $50 loan to rent an apartment and a six-night stint performing in the bar. Nelson rented an apartment in Pasadena, Texas, where he also served at the radio station as the sign-on disc jockey. During this period, he released two singles on Pappy Daily "Man With the Blues"/"The Storm Has Just Begun"/"What a Way to Live"/Misery Mansion." Nelson was then recruited by guitar teacher Paul Buskirk to serve as an instructor in his classroom. For $50 and "Night Life" for $150, he sold "Family Bible" to Buskirk. In 1960, Claude Gray's "Family Bible" became a hit.

Nelson moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1960, but was unable to find a name to identify him. He spent time at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, a bar near the Grand Ole Opry frequented by the show's stars and other singers and songwriters, during this period. Hank Cochran, a songwriter for the publishing company Pamper Music, owned by Ray Price and Hal Smith, was interviewed there. During a jam session with Buddy Emmons and Jimmy Day, Cochran heard Nelson. Cochran had just received a paycheck of $50 a week, but Smith convinced Smith to fork over Nelson's cash instead to sign him to Pamper Music. Faron Young decided to film Nelson's "Hello Walls" at Tootsie's. Nelson joined Price's touring band as a bassist after Ray Price recorded Nelson's "Night Life" and his former bassist Johnny Paycheck's departure. Although playing with Price and the Cherokee Cowboys, his songs, including "Funny How Time Slips Away" (Billy Walker), "Pretty Paper" (Roy Orbison), and, most notably, Patsy Cline's "Crazy" became a hit among other artists, including "What Time Slips Away" (Billy Walker), "Reality Orbison's ("Roy Orbison). At Tootsie's, Nelson and Cochran also met Cline's husband, Charlie Dicken. On the bar's jukebox, Dick liked a song of Nelson's. Nelson's "Crazy" demo tape appeared on his computer. Later that night, Dick appeared on Cline's tape and asked for permission to film it. "Crazy" became the most popular jukebox hit of all time.

Nelson signed with Liberty Records and was recording at Quonset Hut Studio in August 1961. By the next year, his first two smashing singles as an artist would be out, including "Willingly" (a duet with his soon-to-be second wife, Shirley Collie, which became his first charting single and first Top Ten at No. 2). (his second Top 10) and "Touch Me" (his second Top Ten), stalling at No. 10. 7 is the most recent version. Nelson's time at Liberty resulted in his first album titled...And then I Wrote, which was released in September 1962. Collie and Nelson were married in Las Vegas in 1963. He spent time in Pico Rivera, California, on the west coast of Pamper Records. Since the job did not have time to enjoy music of his own, he left it and bought a ranch in Ridgetop, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. Fred Foster of Monument Records signed Nelson in early 1964, but only one single was ever released: "I Never Bothered For You."

Nelson had risen to RCA Victor in Chet Atkins' behest by the fall of 1964, earning him a $10,000 per year. Country Willie – His Own Songs was Nelson's first RCA Victor album, released in April 1965. He joined the Grand Ole Opry the previous year, and he became close and acquainted with Waylon Jennings after attending one of his performances in Phoenix, Arizona. Johnny Bush, Jimmy Day, Paul English, and David Zettner formed his backing band "The Record Men" in 1967. Nelson had no notable hits in his first few years on RCA Victor, but his singles remained in the Top 10 from November 1966 to March 1969 in a consistent manner. During Nelson's tenure with RCA, "One in a Row" (#19, 1966), "The Party's Over" (#24 during a 16-week chart run in 1967), and his interpretation of Morecambe & Wise's "Bring Me Sunshine" (#13, March 1969) were among Nelson's best-selling hits during his tenure as president.

By 1970, the majority of Nelson's songwriting royalties had been invested in tours that did not produce significant income. Nelson divorced Shirley Collie in 1970, adding to the difficulties he faced during his career. His ranch in Ridgetop, Tennessee, burned down in December. The event was seen as a sign of a change, according to the author. He moved to a ranch near Bandera, Texas, and married Connie Koepke. In early 1971, his single "I'm a Memory" debuted at number one on the top of the charts. Nelson's last RCA single, "Mountain Dew" (backed by "Phase, Circles, Cycles, and Scenes), was released in late April 1972, but RCA refused to make his new recordings public if he did not announce them. Nelson resigned from music as a result of his albums' failure, and in particular, the reception of Yesterday's Wine.

Nelson relocated to Austin, Texas, where the burgeoning hippie music scene (see Armadillo World Headquarters) revived the musician. His fame in Austin soared as he marketed his own brand of country music influenced by country, folk, and jazz influences. In March, he appeared on the last day of the Dripping Springs Reunion, a three-day country music festival aimed at its promoters to be an annual event. Despite the inability to reach the expected audience, Nelson's introduction of the Fourth of July Picnic, his own annual event, took place the following year.

Nelson wanted to return to the recording industry, so he hired Neil Reshen as his boss to talk to RCA, who forced the label to cancel after the client's payments were due to ending. Reshen later signed Nelson to Atlantic Records for $25,000 a year, making him the label's first country artist. He formed his backing band, The Family, and by February 1973, he was recording his hitgun Willie at Atlantic Studios in New York City.

Shotgun Willie, which was born in May 1973, has received rave reviews but did not sell well. Nelson's music influenced a new look, with later claiming that Shotgun Willie had "cleared his throat." Phases and Stages, a concept album about a couple's divorce that was inspired by his own experience, was his next release. Side one of the story is from the woman's perspective, while side two is from the man's perspective. The album also had the hit song "Bloody Mary Morning." He produced and appeared in the pilot episode of PBS' Austin City Limits the previous year.

Nelson then moved to Columbia Records, where he continued to be completely creative under his direction as a result of his previous records' popularity. The result was Red Headed Stranger, the critically acclaimed and hugely popular 1975 concept album. Despite Columbia's refusal to release an album with mainly a guitar and piano for accompaniment, Nelson and Waylon Jennings held firm. The collection featured a preview of Fred Rose's 1945 song "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," which had never been released as a single prior to the album, and Nelson's first number one hit as a musician. Nelson raised funds for PBS-affiliated stations around Austin, Texas, throughout his 1975 tour. The pilot appeared on those stations first, and later became available throughout the world. Since PBS ordered ten episodes for 1976, the show's positive reception was sufficient to order ten episodes.

The album Wanted!

Nelson discovered that since being hired as his boss in the summer of 1977, Reshen had been filing tax extensions and not paying the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A cocaine box was delivered from Reshen's New York office to Jennings in Nashville in June. The DEA followed the parcel, and Jennings was arrested. Since Reshen's helper, Mark Rothbaum, stepped in and settled the charges, the charges were later dropped. Rothbaum was sentenced to time in prison for a period of time in jail. Nelson fired Reshen and hired Rothbaum as his manager after being impressed by his demeanor. Nelson's second platinum album was released in 1978. Waylon & Willie was a Jennings project that included "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," Ed Bruce's hit single. Despite the fact that analysts predicted that Stardust would ruin his career, the film went platinum the year. Nelson continued to lead hit songs during the late 1970s, including "Good Hearted Woman," "Remember Me," "If You've Got the Money, You've Got the Time," and "Uncloudy Day."

Nelson released a number of hit singles over the 1980s, including "Midnight Rider," a 1980 cover of the Allman Brothers film "On the Road Again" by Nelson, as well as a duet with Julio Iglesias titled "To All the Girls I've Loved Before."

Pancho & Lefty, a duet album starring Merle Haggard that was released by Chips Moman in 1982, was released. Pancho and Lefty, session guitarist Johnny Christopher, and co-writer of "Always on My Mind," tried to sell the song to an uninterested Haggard during the recording sessions. Nelson, who was unaware of Elvis Presley's version of the song, begged him to record it. The single of the song, as well as the album of the same name, was produced by Moman. The single debuted in Billboard's Hot Country Singles, while the Billboard Hot 100 reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. During the 25th annual Grammy Awards: Best Country Song, Best Country Song, and Best Male Country Vocal Performance, the collection received three accolades: Song of the Year, Best Country Song, and Best Male Country Vocal Performance. The single was rated platinum, while the album was certified quadruple-platinum and in 2008, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

In the meantime, two Waylon Jennings collaborations were released; WWIII in 1982, and Take it to the Limit, another Waylon Jennings collaboration, was released in 1983. Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash formed The Highwaymen, a multinational company that has achieved platinum records and toured the world in the 1980s. Nelson, on the other hand, became more involved with charitable causes, including appearing on We Are the World in 1984. Nelson's 1985 debut with Half Nelson, a compilation of duets featuring a variety of artists including Ray Charles and Neil Young. Nelson appeared on the White House's south lawn in 1980. In a duet of Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother," First Lady Rosalynn Carter and Nelson appeared together on September 13 in a duet of "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother." Nelson smoked marijuana on the White House roof, according to Joe Nick Patoski's biography: Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, he smoked marijuana on the White House roof.

Nelson re-recorded the songs "Hello Walls" with the band The Reverend Horton Heat, and "Bloody Mary Morning" with the Supersuckers for Twisted Willie, a tribute album containing rock interpretations of Nelson's hits performed by artists such as Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Jerry Cantrell, Mark Lanegan, L7, and others, among others. Nelson's Farm Aid is raising funds from the auction of the record benefit.

Nelson toured regularly during the 1990s and 2000s, releasing many albums, including 1998's critically acclaimed Teatro, as well as other bands including Phish, Johnny Cash, and Toby Keith. Keith's duet, "Beer for My Horses," debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts for six weeks in a row, while the accompanying video received an award for "Best Video" at the 2004 Academy of Country Music Awards. Nelson's 70th birthday was honored on television, and Nelson released The Essential Willie Nelson as part of the anniversary. Nelson appeared on Ringo Rama's 2003 album "Write One for Me" as a guest vocal on "Write One for Me."

Nelson was featured on Toots & the Maytals' album True Love in 2004, which received the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2004, and it showcased many well-known musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Trey Anastasio, Gwen Stefani, and Keith Richards. Nelson released Countryman, a reggae album starring Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals, on the song "I'm a Worried Man" in 2005.

Nelson headlined the 2005 Tsunami Relief Austin to Asia concert to benefit the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which raised an estimated $75,000 for UNICEF. On Charles' duets album Genius & Friends, a live performance of Johnny Cash's "Busted" with Ray Charles was also released in 2005. Nelson's 2007 appearance at the Lincoln Center with jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was released as the live album Two Men with the Blues in Billboard's Top Jazz Albums and number one on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums and number twenty on the Billboard 200. Nelson's first album, Moment of Forever, was released in the same year as the producer, Buddy Cannon. Nelson knew him earlier, during the development of his collaboration with Kenny Chesney on the duet "That Lucky Sun," which Chesney's album of the same name. Nelson and Marsalis performed in 2009 in a tribute concert to Ray Charles that culminated in the release of the Genius of Ray Charles album in 2011.

Nelson launched Country Music, a compilation of T-Bone Burnett's highest-quality standards. The album debuted at number four in Billboard's Top Country Albums, and at number twenty on Billboard's Billboard Top Country Albums, putting it in a new light on Billboard's Top Country Albums, and twenty on the Billboard 200. At the 2011 Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Americana Album. Nelson appeared in the 2011 Kokua For Japan, a fund raising activity for the victims of the 2011 Thoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan that raised $1.6 million.

Legacy Recordings and other related content was acquired by him in February 2012 and included the publication of new music, as well as previous ones that would be chosen and complemented with outtakes and other items selected by him. Buddy Cannon was reunited to produce Nelson's albums as a result of the new contract. Cannon's work method included the recording of the tracks with studio players, with the takes later completed by Nelson with his guitar. Cannon's link to Nelson went far beyond songwriting, with the musician and producer composing the lyrics by exchanging text messages.

Heroes was Nelson's first release on Legacy Recordings, which included guest appearances by his sons Lukas and Micah, Snoop Dogg, Kris Kristofferson, Jamey Johnson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Sheryl Crow. The album debuted on Billboard's Top Country Albums, at number four. His 2013 release To All the Girls, a series of duets starring all female partners, including Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert, among others. The album debuted on Billboard's Top Country Albums at number two, marking his highest position on the charts since the debut of his 1989 A Horse Called Music and extending his run to a total of forty-six top ten albums in the country charts. Nelson's second top ten album on the Billboard 200 was also a hit, with the album debuting at number nine.

In 2014, Band of Brothers, Nelson's first Nelson album to feature the most original songs since 1996's Spirit, was released. It was the first time since 1986's The Promiseland, Nelson's last Nelson album to top it, when it was announced. Nelson's highest ranking on the charts since 1982's Always on My Mind took top five on the Billboard 200, Nelson's highest position on the chart since 1982's Always on My Mind. Rhonda Vincent, "Only Me," topped Bluegrass Unlimited's National Airplay charts in December 2014. His collaboration with Haggard Django and Jimmie topped Billboard's Top Country Albums chart in June 2015 and ranked seventh on the Billboard 200 in June 2015.

God's Problem Child was Nelson's in 2017 debut. The compilation, which featured mainly Nelson originals co-written with Cannon, made it to the Top Country Albums at number one, while the Billboard 200 reached its top ten.

Nelson performed "Cruel World" for the soundtrack of Rockstar Games' action-adventure video game Red Dead Redemption 2's action-adventure video game Redemption 2. Lanois wrote the song specifically for Nelson. Nelson was stopped from recording the album after a hurricane prevented him from doing it, so the production team sent Josh Homme a song in the hopes of recording it in time for the game's debut. Nelson was eventually able to record the song in Los Angeles, but the team was attempting to incorporate the two versions into a duet, but the team eventually included both versions in the game. Nelson was also on Restoration, a compilation album containing various country interpretations of songs performed by Elton John on which he performed "Border Song." Ride Me Back Home, his 2019 debut, ranked second on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Nelson received the Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance on the track.

Nelson performed a series of charity concerts after the U.S. coronavirus pandemic lockdowns started in March 2020. Because of the effects on the US economy, the first two raised $700,000 for people who had suffered financial hardship as a result. Come and Toke It, the third exhibition, which took place on April 20, 2020, was a variety show called Come and Toke It. Some of the videos were cannabis-themed, and some of the funds would be used to fund The Last Prisoner Project, a retortive justice initiative involving people convicted of cannabis-related crimes. Nelson was approached by Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeahs to collaborate the following year. They wanted to do a cover of David Bowie's Under Pressure and Queen's Under Pressure.

Source