Man, what a night…
If there was ever a time to be jealous about missing a show, not being at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles this weekend for Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday celebration is the time.
We’re talking about one of the most epic country music lineups ever assembled featuring the man of the hour himself, the great Willie Nelson, as well as George Strait, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings, Charley Crockett, Lukas Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, Neil Young, Orville Peck, Particle Kid, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Snoop Dogg, Sturgill Simpson, The Avett Brothers, and that’s not even scratching the surface.
The two-night concert celebration will continue on tonight, and if it’s anything like Day 1, fans will be in for something special.
And speaking of special, fellow Texas, fellow country music legend, and the one and only King of country music, George Strait, took the stage last night to sing alongside Willie for a cover of the Townes Van Zandt song, “Pancho & Lefty,” as well as George and Willie’s original, “Sing One With Willie.”
“Pancho & Lefty” was written and recorded by Townes Van Zandt in 1972 for his The Late Great Townes Van Zandt record, and is widely considered his greatest song.
Nelson and Haggard recorded their version nearly a decade later in 1983, the title track from their Pancho & Lefty duets album. It reached number one on Billboard’s Hot Country chart and Townes himself was actually featured in the music video.
And fun fact about the Willie and Merle version, Merle barely remembered recording it (more on that here).
But wait, there’s more…
A cut from Strait’s most recent album, the 2019 project Honky Tonk Time Machine, “Sing One With Willie” was actually the first time the two Texans ever performed together.
How many years in the country music industry together and the two legends (and fellow Texans) didn’t share the stage until 2019? Pretty hard to believe, but it’s true.
Lucky for us, they’ve been on stage a handful of times together in the past few years… and last night was one of them.
“Sing One With Willie”
