“I used to work in the cotton fields a lot when I was young. There were a lot of African Americans working out there. A lot of Mexicans - the blacks and the whites and the Mexicans, all out there singing, and it was like an opera in the cotton fields, and I can still hear it in the music that I write and play today.”

American country singer, guitarist, and songwriter

Willie Nelson is an American country singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Born Willie Hugh Nelson, he became a central figure in outlaw country, a style that emerged in the late 1960s in response to the polished Nashville sound. He is associated with 79 quotes on the site. His reputation grew with the success of Shotgun Willie in 1973, then Red Headed Stranger in 1975 and Stardust in 1978, which helped make him one of country music’s most familiar names. Beyond music, he has acted in more than 30 films, co-authored several books, and taken part in activism for biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.