On this, his birthday weekend, newly minted nonagenarian Willie Nelson and a slew of his famous friends and admirers will gather at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate his decades of musical genius.
Among the dozens of artists scheduled to perform in tribute to and alongside Nelson on Saturday and Sunday nights: Neil Young, Beck, George Strait, Kris Kristofferson, Snoop Dogg, Chris Stapleton, Stephen Stills, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, Bob Weir, Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews, Dwight Yoakam, Allison Russell, the Chicks, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Margo Price, Tom Jones and sons Lukas Nelson and Micah Nelson (under the name Particle Kid).
Ethan Hawke, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner and Chelsea Handler are among the celebrity emcees.
Although Nelson has been slowed some by age, and in this decade alone suffered the loss of his longtime drummer, Paul English, and sister, Bobbie, who played piano in his band, his performance at last year’s Palomino Festival in Pasadena prompted The Times’ Mikael Wood to rave, “Nelson’s singing was a marvel of musicianly instinct, with unexpected blue notes and little swerves of tempo that thoroughly blurred the lines among country, jazz and soul music; his guitar playing was even more of a thrill as he rattled up and down Trigger’s neck, using the instrument as much for percussion as for harmony.”
Wood and Erin Osmon will be at the Bowl on both nights, bringing live updates of the Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 performances as they happen.
