Willie Nelson: biography and career

Willie Nelson is a famous country performer. He released more than a hundred records, of which ten became multi-platinum. He can be called a real cowboy, as he is a five-time rodeo champion. Nelson received the Texas banner as a reward, and even his tour bus became legendary transport. He is the holder of a Grammy Award and many other popular awards.

Childhood

Willy Nelson was born on April 30, 1933 in the US state of Texas, in Abbot. His childhood was far from cloudless. First, the father died, then the mother left them with her sister, giving up to grandfather and grandmother. And Willy worked for ten years on cotton plantations. The first guitar was presented to him as early as six years old.

Youth

After graduation, Willy went to serve in aviation. Then at first he worked as a salesman. He lectured at Sunday school. But his main hobby was always songs. Willie married early.

Music career

At first, Willy Nelson participated in school ensembles. And even created his own with the name Bohemian Fiddlers. But Nelson’s serious musical career began in 1956. At first, record companies didn’t take his recordings at all, since the sound was “raw” and unfashionable at that time. Therefore, Willy often gave them to other performers. And some of them later became very popular. For example, Crazy, Night Life.

Bad habits interfered with the advancement of his musical career. He smoked marijuana and was addicted to alcohol. In addition, he also carried weapons without a license. As a result, problems with the law often arose. Tired of this, Nelson went to live in Austin, which was famous as a very democratic city. And it was here that his music acquired an unusual sound. She absorbed rock, western swing, folk rock and jazz. And Nelson got rid of bad habits and became an adherent of a healthy lifestyle. And the morning exercise became a tradition for him.

In the early 1970s. he and W. Jennings grew spade-shaped beards and began to wear frayed jeans, thereby contrasting them with polished pop jackets of impeccable cut. Nelson was sure that the country style should return to its cowboy origins. Willie, along with Jennings, tried to return to this genre the long-lost energy.

When Nelson began acting in films, a period of duets began in his musical career. He recorded one song with H. Iglesias. And together with friends he created the group The Highwaymen, which became super popular. In 1982, in the Record of the Year nomination, which was considered very prestigious, Willy Nelson, whose albums were released almost annually, still also received a Grammy Award for the new performance of the song “Always on My Mind”.

In the early nineties, the tax office accused Willy of tax evasion. And most of Nelson’s property left the auction, as his debt was very decent. Willie even recorded a double album at a hurry pace to pay off his debts. As soon as the litigation was over, in 1933 he released a duet album with performers of other musical genres.

Dolly Parton and Willy Nelson are well-known country-style performers, with both being awarded the famous Grammy Award. But in the second half of the 1990s, Willy's popularity began to decline rapidly. Partly because of his struggle to legalize marijuana. On one television show, he proudly announced to the whole country that he was smoking marijuana on the roof of the White House while President D. Carter was hosting a reception. Nelson wanted to attract the attention of youth, and as a result an album with reggae additives appeared.

In 2005, he released the single "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly", which became scandalous. The name speaks of the hidden love of cowboys to each other. And in 2006, Willie returned to the peak of country charts.

Nelson's Discography

Willy Nelson, whose discography is very extensive, has released many albums:

• 1966 - “Live Country Music Concert”;
• 1967 - “Texas In My Soul”, “The Party's Over”;
• 1968 - The Good Times;
• 1969 - “My Own Peculiar Way”;
• 1970 - “Laying My Burdens Down” and “Both Sides Now”;
• 1971 - “Willie Nelson And Family”, “Words Don't Fit The Picture”;
• 1972 - “The Willie Way”;
• 1976 - “The Sound In Your Mind”;
• 1977 - “To Lefty From Willie”;
• 1979 - "Willie Nelson Sings Kristofferson" and "Pretty Paper";
• 1981 - “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, “Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (And Some That Will Be)”;
• 1983 - “Without A Song”;
• 1985 - “Legend: The Best Of Willie Nelson”, “Half Nelson”, “Road Songs - Triple Play”;
• 1988 - “What A Wonderful World”;
• 1993 - “Revolutions Of Time ... The Journey 1975-1993” (on three CDs);
• 1995 - “Super Hits, Vol. 2 ";
• 1996 - “Just One Love”;
• 1997 - “All Of Me '- Willie Nelson Sings The Standards”;
• 1999 - “Country Willie - His Own Songs”, “Stardust”, “The Very Best Of Willie Nelson” (on three CDs);
• 2000 - “Love Songs”, “Country Favorites - Willie Nelson Style” and “Red Headed Stranger”;
• 2002 - “RCA Country Legends”;
• 2003 - “Willie And Family Live” (on two CDs), “Platinum & Gold Collection”, “Tougher Than Leather”, “Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits (& Some That Will Be)”, “Always On My Mind” "And" Willie Nelson Slipcase "(on five CDs);
• 2004 - “Willie Nelson The Collection”, “The Troublemaker”;
• 2005 - “The Great American Songbook”;
• 2006 - “Songbird”;
• 2007 - “Discover Willie Nelson”;
• 2008 - “There You Are”. "Still Is Still Moving To Me."
  

Filmography

Since 1979, Willy Nelson has periodically acted in films. Almost every year he could be seen on the screen in a new picture, and sometimes it didn’t end with one film. In 1986, 1988, 1997, 2006, 2007. - starred in two films every year. The peak of film career came in 2008. This year, Nelson starred in five films at once. It is curious that all this time he continued to write music and songs.

Some films from Nelson's career:

• Barbarosa (Western 1982);
• The Electric Horseman (1979 drama);
• Honeysuckle (1980 drama);
• “Thief” (1981 action movie);
• “Escape from the Ice” (1982 drama);
• Stagecoach (Western 1986);
• Heartbeat (1987 military drama);
• “Where is the gold?” (Western 1988);
• “Trump Couple” (1990 thriller);
• “Wild Texas Wind” (1991 thriller);
• “Fishing” (thriller 1997);
• “Unbaked” (1997 comedy);
• “Cheating” (1997 drama);
• “Belated Retribution” (Western 1999);
• “Dill Scallion” (1999 comedy);
• The Wanderer (Western 2001);
• Village Bears (2002 comedy);
• The Big Theft (2004 comedy);
• “Dukes from Hazzard” (2005 comedy);
• The Beer Boom (2006 comedy);
• Destroyed Bridges (2006 drama);
• “Invulnerable” (2007 action movie);
• “Blonde with Ambition” (2007 comedy);
• “On a sober head” (2008 comedy);
• “Beer to My Horses” (2008 comedy);
• “Get a job” (2011 comedy);
• “One Happy Moon” (2014 comedy);
• “An Exemplary Moment” (2016 comedy).