Willie Nelson On Life In Quarantine, New Music, And Pal, The Late Kenny Rogers

Jul 03, 2020 by apost team

Country music legend Willie Nelson joined Jenna Bush Hager on Thursday via video call for Today with Hoda & Jenna to share an update on his life amid the coronavirus pandemic, to talk about his 70th studio album, First Rose of Spring, and to remember his late friend Kenny Rogers.

On Thursday, country music legend Willie Nelson joined Jenna Bush Hager via video call to share an update on his life in quarantine, to talk about his new studio album, First Rose of Spring, and to remember his late friend Kenny Rogers. "Well, you know like everybody else, kind of hiding out, hanging out, hunkering down. It's really no fun especially for an old guitar picker," he tells Hager.

First Rose of Spring comes out on Friday. Nelson's whopping 70th studio album was originally scheduled to be released on April 24 but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was produced by Buddy Cannon and features eleven tracks. Nelson and Cannon co-wrote two originals for the album, while the remaining tracks include compositions by Chris Stapleton, Toby Keith, and Pete Graves.

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When asked what he remembers most about working with Kenny Rogers, Nelson said:

"Through the years he and I were big pals. In fact, he tried to get me to record The Gambler."

He added that he does not regret his decision to record it because it was "Kenny's song all the way." In 1989, Nelson and Rogers teamed up for a performance of Nelson’s Blue Skies as part of an NBC special. “One of my favorite albums that you ever recorded, and obviously one of theirs as well, is the Stardust album,” Rogers told Nelson prior to the performance. “You did a song called ‘Blue Skies’ which happens to be one of my favorite songs.”

On Saturday, Nelson’s annual “4th of July Picnic” will carry on as a hybrid live-stream/concert-film event in the virtual countryside. This is the first time in almost 50 years that the picnic will not happen in person. Nelson's sons, Lukas and Jacob will be performing alongside their father.

"It's great, not only is it a lot of fun when your kids play with you on stage but it's especially good when they're really good musicians," said the 87-year-old. He adds that he's "always known" that his sons would follow in his footsteps one day, and that they will be coming over to his home studio very soon to make more music with him, including doing some recording of tracks by Frank Sinatra.

Hager: "A pandemic won't stop Willie Nelson from writing music."
Nelson: "No. No way."

Will you be tuning in to Willie's virtual picnic for The Fourth of July? Let us know in the comments and be sure to pass this along to all the Willie Nelson fans in your life!