On April 29th and 30th, Willie Nelson celebrated his birthday with numerous colleagues, family members and a total of over 36,000 fans (18,000 guests per evening). The event was called “Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90” and took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Over 45 artists performed and guested including Keith Richards, Snoop Dogg, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones.
Posting photos of the event, Nelson wrote of the two-day event on Instagram: “I was born before midnight on the 29th but it wasn’t registered in the magistrates’ court until the next day, the 30th. So it was officially entered as the 30th. So I just do both days.”
Willie Nelson Celebrates His 90th Birthday Like A Country Music Marathon – Highlights
Artists from all genres performed on both nights, from Kris Kristofferson to Snoop Dogg, Miranda Lambert and Sturgill Simpson to Neil Young and Stephen Stills. Ethan Hawk moderated. The audience was particularly excited for Keith Richards, who greeted the audience by saying, as reported by the LA Times: “It’s good to be here – it’s good to be somewhere.” Willie and Keith performed a version of among other things Waylon Jennings’ “We Had It All”.
The honoree also jammed with Young and Stills before singing a couple of duets with George Strait, including “Sing One With Willie” and “Pancho and Lefty.”
86-year-old Kristofferson, who is battling the effects of Lyme disease, made a rare public appearance singing his 1971 classic “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)” with Rosanne Cash.
Allison Russell sang “Seven Spanish Angels” – the gospel soul song Willie recorded with Ray Charles in the early ’80s. Together with Norah Jones on piano and with harmony vocals.
Before the party could end, as the American ROLLING STONE reported, there was also a Willie tradition: The performers of the evening joined Willie, Lukas and Micah on stage and sang together “Circle Be Unbroken”, ” I’ll Fly Away, Happy Birthday and It’s Hard to Be Humble.
“Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90” – The Line Up
- Alison Russell
- Beck
- Billy Strings
- Bobby Weir
- Booker T Jones
- Buddy Cannon
- Charley Crockett
- Chris Stapleton
- Daniel Lanois
- Dave Matthews
- Dwight Yoakam
- Edie Brickell
- Emmylou Harris
- Gary Clark Jr.
- George Strait
- JackJohnson
- James Johnson
- Kris Kristofferson
- Leon Bridges
- Lily Meola
- Luke Nelson
- Lyle Lovett
- Margo Price
- Miranda Lambert
- Nathaniel Rateliff
- Neil Young
- Norah Jones
- Orville Peck
- Particle Kid
- Rodney Crowell
- Rosanne Cash
- Sheryl Crow
- Shooter Jennings
- Snoop Dogg
- Stephen Stills
- Sturgill Simpson
- The Avett Brothers
- The Chicks
- The Lumineers
- tom jones
- Tyler Childers
- Warren Haynes
- Waylon Payne
- Ziggy Marley
April 29 Setlist (Night 1)
- Billy Strings – “Whiskey River”, “Stay All Night”
- Charley Crockett – “The Party’s Over”
- Particle Kid & Daniel Lanois – “The Ghost”
- Edie Brickell & Charlie Sexton – “Remember Me”
- Lyle Lovett – “Hello Walls”
- Margo Price & Nathaniel Rateliff – “I Can Get Off On You”
- Beck – “Hands on the Wheel”
- Norah Jones – “Down Yonder”, “Funny How Time Slips Away”
- Warren Haynes – “Midnight Rider”
- Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson – “Lovin’ Her Was Easier”
- Lukas Nelson – “Angles Flying Too Close to the Ground”
- Leon Bridges & Gary Clark Jr – “Night Life”
- Gary Clark Jr – “Texas Flood”
- Jack Johnson – “Willie Got Me Stoned”
- Tyler Childers and Food Stamps – “Healing Hands of Time”, “Time of the Preacher”
- Ziggy Marley – “Still Is Still Moving To Me”
- Tom Jones – “Opportunity to Cry”
- Jamey Johnson – “Live Forever”
- Bob Weir – “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
- The Chicks with Keith Sewell – “Bloody Mary Morning”
- The Lumineers – “A Song For You”
- Nathaniel Rateliff – “City of New Orleans”
- Sturgill Simpson – “I’d Have to Be Crazy”
- Miranda Lambert – “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”
- Chris Stapleton – “The Last Thing I Needed,” “Always On My Mind”
- Neil Young, Stephen Stills with Promise of the Real – “Long May You Run”, “For What It’s Worth”
- Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson, Neil Young with POTR – “Are There Any More Real Cowboys”
- George Strait and Willie Nelson – “Sing One With Willie”, “Pancho and Lefty”
- Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson – “Roll Me Up”
- Willie Nelson – “On the Road Again”
- Group – “Circle Be Unbroken”, “I’ll Fly Away”, “Happy Birthday”, “It’s Hard to Be Humble”