History Music / WillieNelson

* NonActorVehicle: ''Honeysuckle Rose'', ''Barbarosa'', ''Songwriter''. He's had a steady career in front the camera, but those were the films that he headlined. As mentioned above, more recently he's specialized in AsHimself appearances.

* Improv: Willie is known for changing things around while he's playing live, changing the tempo or key very slightly, and his bandmates have to be quick and good to keep up with him. His live versions of his songs are often sung quite differently than the version you hear on the album, too.

* BadassBeard: Since ''Shotgun Willie'', he's had one. His prior albums look quite strange with him clean shaven.
** It's a major plot point for the underrated Western ''Barbarosa'' where he plays the eponymous cowboy hero.

** Before that, ''Yesterday's Wine'' (about a man's life from birth to death) and ''Phases and Stages'' (about the breakup of a marriage).

* TheStoner: He's the co-chair for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. The occasional arrest for possession is another clue.
** According to legend, he once smoked a joint on the roof of the White House. In a recent ''Rolling Stone'' interview, he claimed(while winking at the interviewer) that he couldn't remember doing this.
** And according to another legend, he once barged in out of nowhere on a ''Rolling Stone'' reporter interviewing Music/BobDylan bearing a blunt as long as his forearm. The article was never written (according to the legend, anyway).
** Brought up in ''[[Series/TheColbertReport A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!]]'':
-->'''Willie''': Stephen, right now, I'm so high, ''you're'' hallucinating.
** Music/TobyKeith penned a song titled "I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again". And sings it in Willie's SignatureStyle.
** He's done a duet with Music/MerleHaggard entitled "It's All Going to Pot." Both men can be seen lighting up in the video.

* TenWithATwo: TropeNamer, from his 1990 song "Ten with a Two".

Known as the Red-Headed Stranger, '''Willie Hugh Nelson''' (born April 29, 1933) is perhaps one of the most iconic CountryMusic artists of the 20th century. He started his career in the 1950s, playing bass guitar for Ray Price and writing songs for others (ever heard of "Crazy" by Patsy Cline?). A modest #10 hit in 1962 ("Willingly"), first brought him to the charts, but it wasn't until 1975 that he broke through with the massive crossover hit "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain". For most of the 1970s and 1980s, Nelson was at the top of his game, charting both as a solo singer and as a duet partner with... well, almost everybody: Music/WaylonJennings, Music/MerleHaggard, Julio Iglesias and Music/RayCharles, among others. Although Nelson hasn't touched the Top 40 on his own since 1990, the occasional duet has found its way onto the charts as late as 2003's "Beer for My Horses", with Music/TobyKeith. One of country music's elder statesmen, and one of the very few artists from the 60's who is still around, Nelson is incredibly respected as a songwriter and lead guitarist, while his iconic jazzy singing style is instantly recognizable.

** TobyKeith penned a song titled "I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again". And sings it in Willie's SignatureStyle.

-->'Cause it's the holiday season"
-->And you fill such a big empty space

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His earliest material is fairly straight classic country (though his sophisticated lyrics were considered cutting edge). When he recorded with RCA Records in the late 60s he had the same problem as his labelmate Music/WaylonJennings: his style was too eclectic to fit into the usual Nashville formulas, leading to experiments with crooning ballads ("She's Not For You"), pop ("I'm a Memory") and even gospel ("Laying My Burdens Down"). He also sang with a clipped, over-enunciated style that stands in contrast to his later signature jazzy phrasing.

Known as the Red-Headed Stranger, '''Willie Hugh Nelson''' (born April 29, 1933) is perhaps one of the most iconic CountryMusic artists of the 20th century. He started his career in the 1950s, playing bass guitar for Ray Price and writing songs for others (ever heard of "Crazy" by Patsy Cline?). A modest #10 hit in 1962 ("Willingly"), first brought him to the charts, but it wasn't until 1975 that he broke through with the massive crossover hit "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain". For most of the 1970s and 1980s, Nelson was at the top of his game, charting both as a solo singer and as a duet partner with... well, almost everybody: WaylonJennings, MerleHaggard, Julio Iglesias and RayCharles, among others. Although Nelson hasn't touched the Top 40 on his own since 1990, the occasional duet has found its way onto the charts as late as 2003's "Beer for My Horses", with TobyKeith. One of country music's elder statesmen, and one of the very few artists from the 60's who is still around, Nelson is incredibly respected as a songwriter and lead guitarist, while his iconic jazzy singing style is instantly recognizable.

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Is the only person known to have out-smoked SnoopDogg.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Music/WaylonJennings.

** And according to another legend, he once barged in out of nowhere on a ''Rolling Stone'' reporter interviewing BobDylan bearing a blunt as long as his forearm. The article was never written (according to the legend, anyway).

** He's recently done a duet with Music/MerleHaggard entitled "It's All Going to Pot." Both men can be seen lighting up in the video.
* SuperGroup: The Highwaymen with Kris Kristofferson, WaylonJennings, and Music/JohnnyCash.

* ChristmasSongs: He's released two Christmas albums, ''Pretty Paper'' (1979) and ''Hill Country Christmas'' (1997). The title track from the former (which is really more of an AntiChristmasSong) is one of his best-known compositions, originally written in 1963 and turned into a hit that year by Music/RoyOrbison.

* ChristmasSongs: He's released two Christmas albums, ''Pretty Paper'' (1979) and ''Hill Country Christmas'' (1997). The title track from the former is one of his best-known compositions, originally written in 1963 and turned into a hit by Music/RoyOrbison.

Known as the Red-Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson (born April 30, 1933) is perhaps one of the most iconic CountryMusic artists of the 20th century. He started his career in the 1950s, playing bass guitar for Ray Price and writing songs for others (ever heard of "Crazy" by Patsy Cline?). A modest #10 hit in 1962 ("Willingly"), first brought him to the charts, but it wasn't until 1975 that he broke through with the massive crossover hit "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain". For most of the 1970s and 1980s, Nelson was at the top of his game, charting both as a solo singer and as a duet partner with... well, almost everybody: WaylonJennings, MerleHaggard, Julio Iglesias and RayCharles, among others. Although Nelson hasn't touched the Top 40 on his own since 1990, the occasional duet has found its way onto the charts as late as 2003's "Beer for My Horses", with TobyKeith. One of country music's elder statesmen, and one of the very few artists from the 60's who is still around, Nelson is incredibly respected as a songwriter and lead guitarist, while his iconic jazzy singing style is instantly recognizable.