Willie Nelson

Magazine

Willie Nelson: a singer, songwriter, guitar player and actor. An outlaw and a political activist. A man who has not just played at the White House but smoked a joint on the roof of the building after the show. He is, if nothing else, an American original. Born in a small town outside Dallas, he developed a sound that combined honky-tonk, blues, soul, jazz and rock ’n’ roll. "If America could sing with one voice," Emmylou Harris once said, "it would be Willie’s." In words and photos, this is his story.