For the first time ever, and to help celebrate his 90th birthday in 2023, American icon Willie Nelson provides the stories behind the lyrics of 160 of his favorite songs.
From his earliest work in the 1950s to today, Willie looks back at the songs that have defined his career, from his days of earning $50 each to his biggest hits, from his less well-known songs (but incredibly meaningful to him) to his concept albums. Along the way, he also shares the stories of his guitar Trigger, his family and “family,” as well as the artists he collaborated with, including Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Dolly Parton, and many others.
Willie is disarmingly honest—what do you have to lose when you’re about to turn 90? —meditating on the nature of songwriting and finding his voice, and the themes he’s explored his whole life—relationships, infidelity, love, loss, friendship, life on the road, and particularly poignant at this juncture of his life: mortality.
Revealing, funny, whimsical, and wise, this book is an enduring tribute to Willie Nelson's legacy.
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Willie Nelson Willie Nelson is one of the most popular, prolific, and influential songwriters and singers in the history of American music. He has recorded more than one hundred albums over six decades, appeared in several films, and written two New York Times bestsellers, It’s a Long Story and The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes. He was inducted in the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993.
David Ritz is the author and coauthor of many acclaimed autobiographies of entertainers, including Ray Charles, Etta James, Scott Weiland, Grandmaster Flash, and more. Five of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, and he has won the Gleason Award for Best Music Book of the Year four times.
Ethan Hawke is an Academy Award–nominated actor, author, and director. He studied acting at the British Theatre Association in England and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. His motion picture credits include Dead Poets Society, Gattaca, Great Expectations, and Snow Falling on Cedars, among many others.