I guess we might see Willie again one day… at least according to Willie himself.
Willie Nelson is gearing up to release a new book called The Last Leaf: Reflections on Late-Life Creativity—and My Longest Love Affair, which is set to be released tomorrow, November 10th.
It will of course focus on Willie’s love affair with music, but also, is dedicated to the love of his life, his wife Annie, whom he still calls his “best friend for four decades.” He details meeting her in 1986 on the set of the movie Stagecoach, where she was working as a makeup artist, getting through COVID together and more.
He called her the “heroine” of this book, and he says the years he lived past that are “because of [her]”:
“The backbone of this book is a love story. The heroine is my wife, Annie, who kept me alive when I was sure I was gone. COVID nearly got me. I was hurting so bad I wanted out. But Annie wouldn’t let me go. The years I’ve lived since then are because of Annie. And so is this book.”
He’s been doing some press to promote the book, and in a recent interview with The Guardian, he revealed his secret to longevity at 93-years-young, saying that it’s pretty simple:
“I have a saying: imagine what you want and then get out of the way. And make sure that what you’re asking for is what you actually want.”
I guess it really is that simple… at least for Willie.
Just this year, Willie played 36 shows, and even though he tries not to stay in the past too much, Willie acknowledges he’s come a long way since he moved to Tennessee “with an old guitar and eyes full of stars chasin’ a crazy dream.”
He says it’s hard to believe he’s still touring into his 90s, and he joked that no one thought he’d live past 21, because he did “everything wrong” and if it was really wrong, he “did it twice”:
“No. The way I was going, I never expected to be here. I don’t think anyone expected me to live beyond 21, the way I was going. I did everything wrong. If it was wrong, I did it. And if it was really wrong, I did it twice.”
Classic…
The “wrong” things he did included drinking too much, smoking too much and taking too many pills:
“Well, I drank too much, I smoked too much. I took too many pills. Oh, I don’t know. Little white ones.”
It was in 1978 that Willie stopped drinking, he admits he was a “mean drunk,” and he is convinced sobriety is what saved his life… minus the weed, of course. He’s the poster boy for being what’s known as “California Sober.”
Luckily for all of, that seemed to do the trick, and Willie referred to himself as “the last leaf on the tree,” bringing up his friends from The Highwaymen in Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, who have all passed away.
Willie was actually the second oldest of the group, just one year younger than Johnny, and he says he feels “fortunate” to still be here. And not only is he still here, he’s in good health and able to write books, record music, and even go on tour. It’s truly incredible:
“Well, you know, I guess I probably am the last leaf on the tree. I’m lucky to be here. I’ve lost a lot of my good friends along the way. You know, Johnny, Waylon and Kris. I feel fortunate that I’m still here.”
But like all of us, the day will eventually come when he will go too (I don’t even want to think about that), and he says he doesn’t dwell on death, because he believes “we come back again”:
“Well, you know, everybody’s gonna die, so it ain’t no big deal how long we got. We live and we die, and I believe we come back again.”
Well if that’s the case, I think Willie should just come back as himself and keep making all that amazing music…
A huge focus of this book is also Willie’s relationship with his wife of 35 years, Annie, who he credits for helping him live this long too. It will be really interesting to hear more about their love story, and the book will be out everywhere tomorrow.
